Hello! From MO!

Pics
Date sort Score sort
K

Kymberli Mundwiller

Chirping
Dec 16, 2017
24
57
56
Hello! Im so glad to find yall! We're building our house right now and tho most of the hard stuff was done, it's still taking a while to do the inside. But we're having a good time doing it! Our plan is to be in our home by Feb 1st. We have to have our house ready for appraisal by May 31st. So chickens and bunnies June 1st? Lol My hubby insists we have to wait until 2019. :(
I wanna raise layers and meat chickens. I think they're supposed to take so little in effort, no time like the present. How much time, after the building is erected, set up is done, do think 30 chickens would take in daily and weekly chores? How much in cost? We have 9.5 acres and 10 in the house. Planning free range.
 
Hey there!
So, I suggest starting with chickens. Waterfowl are really messy, and space sounds like it isn't an issue for you!
Are you wanting a dual purpose breed, or two different breeds (one for laying and one for meat)?
Erecting an appropriate coop can cost anywhere from $50 to $1000 per coop. If you want to buy, most coops are around $500. If you want to build, use scrap materials from warehouses and construction companies to save money!
Your chickens will need 4 square feet of space per bird in the coop. I suggest multiplying that by two or three- you'll want more chickens!
Daily chores aren't long for me. It takes me about 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening. You let out your chickens in the morning, make sure they have food and water, then put them back in at night and do a head count. Baby chicks aren't too high maintenance, and only require about 30 minutes to an hour of your day. Of course, some days you'll need to clean coops, etc. Some folks, like me, use the deep litter method meaning that we only fully clean our coops twice a year. I take about 5 minutes once a week to aerate and add more bedding to my deep litter. If you don't want to do the deep litter method, you'll have to take 20-30 minutes to fully clean out your coop anywhere from any 2 to 4 weeks.
30 chickens will probably take you 10 minutes to 20 minutes in the morning as well as at night. You'll want to make sure they have lots of food and water, and do a head count. Collecting eggs takes very little time.
The cost for you to get started would be approximately-
$50-$1000 for one coop
$10 for 1-2 bags or bales of bedding
$10 per chick (on average)
$80 for 2 good-sized waterers (you never want to run out)
$50 for 1-2 good sized feeders
$40 per feed per month (about 2 bags of feed per month).
With layers you can probably sell eating eggs at $4/dozen!
Do you know what breeds you want? Are you getting chicks locally or from a hatchery?
 
Your monthly costs would approximately be-
$40 for feed- 30 birds would probably need 2 25kg bags of feed per month, maybe 1 per month in summer. You can cut the cost down to 1 bag of feed by feeding table scraps and letting them forage.
$4 for bedding- For me it is about $4 for a 6 cubic feet bag of shavings here and it lasts me about 2 months, but a bale of straw is about $8 and would last 2 months.
$1.80 for grit- I can buy a 25 kg bag of grit for $15, and it lasts me a year
$2 for calcium- If you plan on having roosters, don't feed layer feed. A 25kg bag of calcium for me is $20 or so, and lasts a year. You can give maintenance feed with free choice calcium on the side for layers.
$10- Let's say an extra $10 per month for other bills, supplies, or health care.
That would be your monthly fees!
 
Blooms&Brood said:
Oh, forgot to mention. You can start deep litter method in fall to prep for winter. I mixed straw with fallen leaves. I turn it once a day. No smell! Highly recommend to save on bedding costs.
Click to expand...
A lot of folks use this. Some people also love shavings like me. There's lots of ways to use deep litter and i think a lot of folks on here would highly recommend it! It is so versatile :)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom