I understand that it will be relatively cheap once everything is set up but how much will building a coop, buying new chickens/chicks etc cost?
Hi Glad you could join the flock! It really does depend on what you want. For example there is a big difference between a home built coop and a pre made one. Also depending what breeds you want and at what age you want them. For example started pullets or point of lay hens are more expensive that chicks. But with chicks you may have roosters and sometimes more than you want. Even buying sexed chicks still runs the risk of getting a roo or two. Here is the link for an excellent article on the costs of keeping chickens https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-does-it-cost-to-raise-backyard-chickens Be sure to ask any questions you may have, everyone here to help and hope you enjoy BYC
There are so many different answers that they can be all over the place. Your chickens can have a small comfrey coop or they can live in the chicken taj majal. How many chickens do you plan on? Do you need a run? What size or can they free range? If you can build your own coop or watch Craigslist for something that can be converted, a shed, a dog house, a play house, costs can be kept down. Check out the coop section on BTC for lots of beautiful coops and great ideas on building or assembling. Same with purchasing chickens. Can you get them local and pick up? What age, what breed? Feed stores are pretty reasonable, but if you have your heart set on certain breeds and they have to be shipped, that can be more expensive. Years ago when we had moved back to the country and wanted chickens a local farmer sold us 20 mixed breed young brown egg laying hens and threw in two roosters for $20.00 so we had an instant flock. Another idea is to start small and then add on later (Everyone does. ) If you look around the archives and threads here there are some wonderful ideas. .
X 2 As Yorkshirecoop said, it really depends on how you go about it. There are a lot of threads, etc here about folks using recycled/upcycled materiel to build their coop (Pallet coops are a popular example of that) - for little to no cost (depending on how much scrap materiel and hardware you might have laying around or available to you). CL, Freecycle, etc are great places to go about finding stuff that someone is giving away or at least selling at a deep discount compared to purchasing new. The catch with that approach is that it often takes longer because going out to the store and paying retail prices = instant start whereas sometimes it can take weeks or longer to find the same materiel at a lower cost or free. To start getting an idea of what your costs might be you need to think about what you want - a laying flock, a show flock, purebred birds or barnyard mixes, do you want to start with chicks or more mature birds, etc. As with materiel, there are ways you might be able to get your birds for cheap or even free and there are sources from which the cost will be considerably higher. This, like many hobbies, new investments, whatever you want to call it can really end up costing as little or as much as you want it to.
I hear you. With all our upgrades from the past year my husband informs me eggs are now about $100.00 a dozen. But if the hens keep laying like they are (and not all ours are laying yet), by this spring the cost should drop to $10.00 per dozen and later, should decrease further still. ummm, guess he isn't figuring in the new things I want to implement. Shall we tell Adelmeus1 about chicken math?
We're glad you joined us! You've received some good advice already. In general, I haven't found my chickens to be very cheap, but there are things you can do to minimize costs.
Make sure what ever you build is predator proof to the best of your ability. There is nothing more disgusting than getting every thing going and some predator killing all of your chickens just before they start laying.