I need advice (egg and person related)- Long Read

[CKfarm22]

I didn’t really know what to title this but I need some advice. I’m going to try not to give my age away but…..

Me and my boyfriend are the owners of our chickens. However we live separately with our parents. We got chickens and where i lived, we were not allowed to have any sort of “farm” animal and his town allows it. So we built the coop at his house…. me and him take care of the chickens, we built the coop with our own money. We pay for their feed. We pay for everything, without any assistance from other people unless my parents buy a bag of mealworms or something (that’s once in a blue moon).

However, my mom has offered to give us money for a bag of food. My parents have offered to help pay for the coop build (we declined) His mom has never offered anything, not food, not shavings, not money to build the coop, absolutely nothing. But she’s so greedy with the eggs.

For Instance, the first ever coop we built and the chickens just started laying eggs, she would help herself to the fresh eggs and not tell me or my boyfriend. This went on for quite a while. We had a chicken that was unfortunately egg bound (she passed away bc we caught it too late) and the reason we caught it too late was because she would take the eggs everyday. I got fed up and my boyfriend had to tell her multiple times to not take them.

We had a situation where when the chickens first started laying (ofc the eggs were small) she would complain that she needed to use more eggs because of the size.

Unlike my mom saying “hey if you guys have any extra eggs i’ll take a carton” his mom will say “i need eggs this week”.

As of now, we have 5 laying hens. So we fill a carton every 2-3 days. Which I am not complaining about. But it seems like she’s just so greedy with them and it kind of gets on my nerves, especially when she does nothing for us. Never offers anything.

And i want to start selling the eggs to make some money that will go to the chickens.

Am i being like crazy or what??

 

[getaclue]

Next time she wants eggs, tell her you're selling them for $XX.00, so you can raise some money for feed. Tell her that on those rare occasions, if you have an extra egg or two, you'll be glad to give them to her.

 

[abpatchy]

yes, that is not very nice. And yes, she does not financially support your chickens to get eggs. But she is providing the land your chickens are on. She might just tell you that you need to remove the chickens. It sucks, I totally understand. But what do you want to do about it? She might not be aware how you feel. Just have a talk and suggest she might add a little support for the feed. Your boyfriend probably knows his mother better... how does he feel about it and what does he expect how she will react?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I agree. Let everybody know that feed cost $xx a bag and you can no longer give eggs away. Point out that eggs at the store cost $yy.. and you will be selling your eggs for $zz a dozen. Then install a padlock on your henhouse and keep the key in your pocket.

Oh, hmm. I guess the eggs could disappear out of the refrigerator, couldn't they? Well... every day I write on the calendar how many eggs I got. At the end of the week I write how many cartons I sold and how much $$ I made. Those numbers should balance.

Ooh, falling asleep. Can't type. Good luck!

 

[raingarden]

If she is putting up with a chicken coop in her yard, then it is not unreasonable to expect to get free eggs. Her contribution (the land) is worth more than what ya'll have spent. Maybe you need to add more hens.

 

[CKfarm22]

yes, that is not very nice. And yes, she does not financially support your chickens to get eggs. But she is providing the land your chickens are on. She might just tell you that you need to remove the chickens. It sucks, I totally understand. But what do you want to do about it? She might not be aware how you feel. Just have a talk and suggest she might add a little support for the feed. Your boyfriend probably knows his mother better... how does he feel about it and what does he expect how she will react?

I’ve talked to him about it before and all he says is “she’s my mom” Like yes i understand that but she can’t offer a bag of feed or a bag of shavings.

I would happily remove them from the property anyway, because I have moved to an area now that allows chickens. But i know my boyfriend wouldn’t like that because they are his too. And if she ever said that, I think he would be all up in arms about it.

I’m not the type to speak up, especially to my partners parents, that’s just who i am, unfortunately.

 

[CKfarm22]

I agree. Let everybody know that feed cost $xx a bag and you can no longer give eggs away. Point out that eggs at the store cost $yy.. and you will be selling your eggs for $zz a dozen. Then install a padlock on your henhouse and keep the key in your pocket.

Oh, hmm. I guess the eggs could disappear out of the refrigerator, couldn't they? Well... every day I write on the calendar how many eggs I got. At the end of the week I write how many cartons I sold and how much $$ I made. Those numbers should balance.

Ooh, falling asleep. Can't type. Good luck!

I have cameras in my coop (for the sole purpose of her mistake in taking eggs). We keep the eggs out in the garage during the winter because it’s cold enough out there. And in the summer they go into the fridge that’s mine and my boyfriends, also in the garage.

I might do the calendar thing though. Because at this point i might have too.

 

[CKfarm22]

If she is putting up with a chicken coop in her yard, then it is not unreasonable to expect to get free eggs. Her contribution (the land) is worth more than what ya'll have spent. Maybe you need to add more hens.

I might need too. But to me it’s still unreasonable to just expect and not say “hey if you have extra eggs i could use some”

But i do see your point in the whole land thing. However, she’s never said no to us building it, and if she did I know my boyfriend would’ve said something because he’s the one the who maintains the yard, and the house. So he’d make the point that “yes you pay for taxes, but i’m the one who maintains the house”.

 

[Brooks_]

I agree with raingarden on this. Use of the land is not free nor should it be. Another member here started an egg business. The LLC owned the chickens but leased the land from him. I suggest something similar. Work out a deal where x amount of eggs cover use of the land and anything over that amount get purchased.

 

[CKfarm22]

I agree with raingarden on this. Use of the land is not free nor should it be. Another member here started an egg business. The LLC owned the chickens but leased the land from him. I suggest something similar. Work out a deal where x amount of eggs cover use of the land and anything over that amount get purchased.

The x amount of eggs cover use of the land has already passed… a long long time ago lol.
But like I said, yes she pays the taxes, but my boyfriend maintains the land so that argument wouldn’t really stand because he would fight it. He mows, cleans up the leaves, maintains the bushes, and maintains the outside of the house. He’s fight that to the core if she ever said “this is my land”