Are your hens paying for themselves?

[trunkman]

I've had chickens for over a year now and have hatched some from my flock, bought some chicks and raised them to laying age and now they are finally laying a dozen eggs a day from 22 hens. I sell my eggs for 2 dollars a dozen so after a couple weeks of this I think they are starting to pay for themselves and giving us a steady supply of eggs for free. Seems to have taken a long time to get to this point and was wondering if any of you have reached the same point and how long did it take you to get there?

 

[Beekissed]

You are going to get all kinds of replies that will tell you that they will never produce enough to recoup your initial investment or to feed them through low production times....but mine have always paid for themselves and then some. It all depends on how you manage your flock, how savvy you are about feeding wastes, what you feed, how vigilant you are about developing a flock that produces well and is thrifty to keep. It also depends on if you spent a fortune to get into chickens or if you were frugal minded enough to realize that used or repurposed items are just as adequate as new ones.

When you add up all the eggs sold or consumed and all the meat from culled birds vs. feed costs and initial setup costs, you will find your profit slowly pulling ahead. Especially if you breed for consistent egg laying and reproduce from the finest in your flock. Anyone who hasn't managed to finally pull ahead into the profit margin isn't trying hard enough, IME.

 

[10 point]

We are not even close to breaking even there more of a pet or hobby instead of a money maker.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Cheaper then therapy!

Had $5 bucks egg money in my pocket yesterday, pulled it out and showed it to my husband and said "and you say I don't make any money!"

 

[pinkwindsong]

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[dichotomymom]

No, not at all. I've been doing this for almost 6 years now. The only thing that comes close to paying for itself are my broilers. They only eat 8 wks worth of feed (of course they eat as much in 8 wks as my layers do in probably a few months). My layers produce well during non freezing months (jan and feb) but not enough (at 2.00 a dozen) to pay back what I put in.

 

[Pele]

Oh heeheehee what a good joke! My hens....paying for themselves? Ahahahaha!

I agree BigDaddysMom, better than paying for therapy!

 

[pjknust]

 

[navychick]

Unless ours lay golden eggs, never.

 

[ChicKat]

Quote:
Congratulations Trunkman----

Good management on your part.

Nope---mine don't pay for themselves....but their job is to produce eggs (for us, not for sale), entertainment, compostable material and be pets, so I'm happy with them.