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janiedoe said:
Hello, welcome to BYC!
Chicken keeping is expensive, when done right. Your eggs will cost you more than store bought eggs. But, when the stores have no eggs, you'll still have them. They'll be expensive eggs, but you can still make your husband the best (only) scrambled eggs around.
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Hello Ms. Janie Doe,

Is there NO way to save in SOME area of chicken raising? Saying "please, please, please" in my head. I ask because I am thinking egg laying chickens have been around for hundreds of years successfully and without all the modern contraptions around today.
 
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lovinlocks said:
Hello Ms. Janie Doe,

Is there NO way to save in SOME area of chicken raising? Saying "please, please, please" in my head. I ask because I am thinking egg laying chickens have been around for hundreds of years successfully and without all the modern contraptions around today.
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True, but they weren't expected to pump out the same number of eggs as they are now, they went broody regularly which was allowed so they could replace the birds that were lost to predation.
 
Our grandparents and our grandparents' grandparents raised chickens without relying exclusively on chickenfeed. We have over 30 hens and two roosters and we give them a half gallon of all-flock feed in the morning, scattered in a small area of the back pasture. They free range for the day in tall pasture grass (lots of bugs, plenty of seeds and grain since I occasionally sow oats, vetch and field peas) then we scatter another quart or so in the run in the evening to encourage them to come back to roost. We supplement that with kitchen scraps and leftovers. We get anywhere from 22-28 eggs a day during the spring, summer and early fall, dropping off to 12-15 during late fall through early spring.

We chose Ameracaunas and Rhode Island Reds; Ameracaunas because they're lighter bodies birds which free range well, productive egg layers and are pretty self-sufficient. RIR's because they're heavy layers of large brown eggs, they free range well and they are heavy-bodied and very tasty.

Choose birds that fill the role you've got- Ameracaunas look like a good fit because they check all the boxes- productive, don't require a ton of feed, free range well and brood chicks readily. I've got to add that they're delicious if you like dark meat. The roosters have small white breasts, everything else is as dark as wild duck. Yum.
 

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