Brainstorm Article Ideas - Raising Chickens During Hard Financial Times

[Jenni Hen]

I think these topics tend to ignore that fact that backyard chickens are luxury items. They neither make money nor save money. To come out ahead financially compared to store-bought chicken and/or eggs requires a silo, buying a tanker truck of feed to fill the silo, enough birds to eat it all before if goes bad and an inexpensive building to crowd them in to. You can't do that in your back yard.

Around here there's no saving on buying eggs (even the organic free-range are cheaper to buy) and people I know are cutting back or giving up on keeping chickens (as a hobby) as the price of feed etc rises.
However, keeping chickens is such good hobby that I don't think it's possible to measure its benefits by money saved on buying eggs. Once the coop and run are set up then it's not expensive compared with other activities but I think people with those facilities are scared of the ongoing commitment to the costs of food and bedding/litter.

 

[SourRoses]

Those are great article ideas!
May I suggest...
"Pruning your flock" or "Chicken Math - Subtraction"
How to choose your most productive, best quality flock members to maximize efficiency and space / wellbeing of your chickens. Including suggestions for preparing emotionally for the removal of less useful birds.

Personal note: I'm at a stage with too many roosters and they happen to be nice, beautiful birds ... which is making it so much harder than it ever has been before!
I rehomed 2 Olive Egger pullets just yesterday that I had intended to keep because they were the sweetest, most trusting girls... I felt horribly guilty about it as if I had taken Babe the pig to market but that was $50, the buyer really wanted them, plus the $50 for the other, less personable OE sisters earlier in the week, and I honestly have no desire for green eggs or feather legs when I like blue eggs. Ack, why did they have to be so sweet? What if they are unhappy or get picked on? (sorry, done sniffling) Did I do the right thing??

 

[raingarden]

I think these topics tend to ignore that fact that backyard chickens are luxury items. They neither make money nor save money. To come out ahead financially compared to store-bought chicken and/or eggs requires a silo, buying a tanker truck of feed to fill the silo, enough birds to eat it all before if goes bad and an inexpensive building to crowd them in to. You can't do that in your back yard.

 

[raingarden]

You've missed the point, and if this is really your experience, you're doing it wrong!
I have none of those things, and my chickens' surplus eggs earn as much as the whole flock costs me. And they enjoy the highest welfare standard, to boot.

I would like to see your financial analysis.

 

[raingarden]

You must have really inexpensive feed if you are only spending fifty pense per day to feed ten head.

The local food stores sell whole chicken for about $1.50/lb. dressed weight.

 

[aart]

So the 'subtraction' seems impossible.

Not if you put them in the freezer.

 

[Perris]

#4 & #5

Buying pelleted or crumbled chicken feed is cheaper than trying to create your own feed.

Not for me.

 

[igorsMistress]

I like the article ideas! Particularly on how to save money building a coop and raising dual purpose chickens. Once the initial cost of the coop is covered, feed is really the most expensive part of keeping chickens so ideas on that would be great too.

 

[Jenni Hen]

My flock is 21 currently.

A 20kg sack of premium grain (mostly wheat) currently costs £11.49, up from £9.25 at the start of this year and £8+ last year. I ferment it, which makes it more nutritious, and add mealworms from my own farm (cost of bran included in my figures), and I only supply breakfast and evening meal; I collect the bowls 20-30 minutes after putting them out so I'm not feeding local wildlife. The flock forages for anything else dawn to dusk. I am not trying to maximize egg production or weight gain so do not overfeed, and the flock needs to be fit enough to run and hide from predators. They are getting better at that as they gain experience. I have lost no birds to predators this year, not even a single chick, who also ate home made food by the way. Really it is possible to cover your costs while giving great food and welfare. I'm not paying middlemen and processors for additives and delays I don't want and my birds don't need.

I was selling the eggs for £1.50 per 6, but raised it to £2 in September when I realized the jump in grain price in May that I didn't pass on (indeed, I'd been selling at that price since 2017) had tipped me into losses - I only aim to cover costs, not make a living out of this. And there is no issue selling them; I have regular customers. They are not like store eggs, and I have a waiting list of people wanting them when I have them.

I paid over £13 for a 20kg sack of wheat a couple of months ago! But I only buy one at a time. Your £2 for 6 sounds realistic.

 

[Jenni Hen]

Make sure to include the really obvious points:
--avoid waste (spilled feed, rodents eating the feed, feed that gets moldy from improper storage, etc)
--skip the treats (mealworms and most other thing sold as "treats" are much more expensive than basic feed)
--buy a cheaper brand
--don't pay extra for special labels (organic, corn-free, soy-free, etc)
--keep fewer chickens
--have some idea of how much feed your chickens should need, to help avoid starving them or wasting large amounts (1/4 pound per day per adult chicken is a good starting estimate. Half that amount is probably too little, unless they are bantams or there are special circumstances; twice as much probably means a lot of wastage.)

re the treats - advice on scatter mix would be useful; I wasted money on 'chicken treat' by accident that was full of things )like sunflour seeds, flaked maize) that I didn't really want.
I've often been told to scatter wheat grain in the afternoon in winter to help keep them warm overnight.

If people want organic it would be helpful to know how much extra to expect to pay for it.