Eggs are expensive

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Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

I guessed at one point each egg I got from our silkies was about $25. Probably an exaggeration, but we sell chicks, so that helps defray the costs. We'll be dead before everything is paid for though. :)

It's more for the fun of it for us. We enjoy our colorful moving yard ornaments and the pure joy of hatching, raising, and breeding chickens.
 
Have your intentions clear at the outset. Hens slow down on egg laying as they age. Are you willing to pay for feed for old hens that aren't laying? Are you willing to cull them for soup stock or pet food?

Also, are you allowed to have a rooster? One way to save money is to get a breed that occasionally gets broody and let your hens raise the next generation instead of buying new chickens every year or two. Speaking of roosters, if one of your sexed pullets turns out to be a cockerel, what will you do with him?

And, to answer your question, yes, eggs are a perfectly valid reason to keep chickens. If you can free range them or have the space to grow some of their feed, you might, *might,* even save money over time.
 
I would say egg prices alone aren't reason enough to get chickens. Once you factor in the cost of building the coop, purchase price of the chicks, and cost of feeding them to point of lay you're looking at a heck of a lot more money than buying eggs at the store. We've spent easily $4,000 on the coop and run alone (I think the coop is 5x8 and the run is 20x20, fully enclosed in hardware cloth, and covered).

But if you've already considered getting started with chickens in the past, there's no reason to wait any longer! Chickens are great fun and good therapy. They've been a common interest and another point of connection within my family. Well worth the investment
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

As stated above, there is a big initial start up cost, chickens need a lot of room and need to be protected from predators. It's not cheap. However once you get past the building stage, chickens aren't incredibly expensive. Feed costs continue to rise however, honestly, you need to keep chickens because you enjoy them, eggs being a secondary enjoyment.
 

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