Average cost of a laying hen 20.00
Average cost of day old chick 3.50
Average cost of a 3 to 4 week old pullet 8.00 to 10.00
Average time it takes a pullet to start laying eggs 4 to 6 months (sometimes more)
Average cost for food a month for 4 hens 18.00 (or more)
Average food dish 15.00
Average cost of auto waterer 40.00
Average cost of a chicken coop and chicken run 350.00 (cheapiest of cheapo and must build yourself) to 2,000.00 (easily more!)
Other expenses needed to raise and/or care for chickens: Water bill, medicine costs, dead loss (money put into raising but end up dead..I.E. to the neighborhood dog for example), bedding cost (straw or wood shavings), vitamin supplements, the list goes on!
I listed this so you have an idea of what the costs are to the person selling the laying hens. As you can see, 20.00 a hen is a steal of a price! They are losing a lot of money at that price. If you had to raise them yourself, you would be easily several hundreds dollars in the hole. People who sell hens are certainly not in it for the money
Please understand that no one on here is offended with your asking inquiry. We are simply giving you this information for information purposes, that way you can have a better understanding of why the prices are the way they are. Hopefully you will be able to obtain your desired breeds, but beware of the chicken math!
