Cost vs. Benefits of Chickens

[jvls1942]

OK, I id not read any of the replies at all..

You will spend more money raising your own..no doubt about it..

the quality of your eggs and the meat,if you butcher, are far superior to the store bought..

If you want the quality food, find somebody like me and many others who raise their own and buy the eggs from them.. maybe you will luck out and be able to buy butchere chickens also..

be prepared to pay more for the procucts, however..

it costs me $1.50 to have a chicken butchered and bagged..

ducks and geese are $5.50 each..

I figure it costs me about $6.oo per chicken to raise it to butchering or laying age if I hatch the eggs myself.. If you buy chicks you can easily add $2.oo on to that price..

a 5 pound chicken for $10.oo is a bargain..

Now I am going to read some of these other replies..

 

[ginbart]

My chickens ate all the bugs in my yard this summer so they helped the neighbor by going across the road and eating his bugs.

I will need to give them some eggs so they don't complain about the poop.

 

[PetalumaChicken]

I had 4 barred rocks for 3 years. The first egg cost me $1000 at least. I can't leave my chicken coop or pen alone, but always seem to be remodeling. Lost 2 hens to injury or illness and when the egg production of the remaining 2 fell way off I contemplated eating them or making chicken stock, but couldn't do it. I did find someone who did take and eat them, though, so they didn't go to waste. I now have 6 pullets (2 black minorcas, 1 buff brahma, 1 americauna, 1cuckoo maran, 1 dominique) and expect this spring to get more eggs than our family of 3 can use. I'm sure i don't come close to the $2.50 grocery store price or the $4 farmer's market free range price. But I know what is in the eggs. I can feed my chickens lots of home grown kale, chard, greens, snails (make sure they haven't been in snail bait), bugs from the yard and the yokes turn deep orange and taste out of this world. I factor in the "free" compost nitrogen and the fact that i'm not spending my money on other costly hobbies, and my wife and I are quite content with what it's costing us.

Petaluma, CA: Keep Petaluma Eggcentric