I am surprised at the responses I must say. I regard the chickens as the "cash crop" on the farm. The coop is no where near fancy- just a loofing shed with the front enclosed with tin and wire. The chickens eat from feeders made from pvc pipe and the dring from the same water troughs that the other livestock drink from. My first 2 hens were a gift, I paid $10.00 for the 3rd hen. Fell in love with them and ordered 26 EE's in december. I waited until they were 11 weeks old and sold 12 of them for $10.00/ea. This paid for all the chickens and feed up to that point. Bought 3 dozen hatching eggs and used a borrowed bator. Sold enough day old chicks to pay for the eggs and feed for that bunch. Grew them up and sold all of them for $10.00/ea. I am not in the proffit margin yet, but I will soon. I just keep the bator going with eggs. I also free range so the feed costs are minimal. All the chicks I have hatched so far have been RIR and Barred Rocks. A dual purpose breed in good demand in my area. I would stick with a basic breed like this until you get all the wrinkles out. I love the wyandottes so this is my focus to keep on my place. However, the RIR and Barred Rocks are easy to get hatching eggs, so I will continue this for the "public". I don't think the chickens will ever make the mortgage payment, but they are paying their own way around here. Not to mention the pure entertainment they bring!
