My "Free" Eggs are costing me a FORTUNE! - ITS DONE!! pg 15 pics

[georgiagail]

I've started adding up the Lowes receipts....

Chicks from a local farm - $1.75 each

Coop and run - $1100 (so far)

I've been talking to what I hope are "girls" telling them to focus on laying golden eggs when they get old enough to do this.

In hindsight (and I think the large number of both postings and members on this site shows this), we tend to spend more time, effort (and funds!) on our hobbies because they give us great pleasure. As such, the idea that Bill and I might raise chickens to make a little money on the side while noble, is kinda silly.

At, say $2.00 for a dozen eggs, we'd only have to sell 550 cartons (that's 6600! eggs) to break even.

Think I could sell the eggs at $50 a dozen?????

Whooo hoo! We're on the path to make millions!

Gail

 

[teach1rusl]

We spent quite a bit on our main coop. I kept all the receipts, just stuck them in an envelope. Put the spreadsheet away. A few weeks after watching your birds out and about, the price tag will be forgotten. A coop can always be resold if you ever quit "chickening." Spend $3000 on a week long vacation and you never get THAT back.

 

[hickchick55]

So far we have only spent $350. Found a door at Restore and had material left from building house and pole barn. The most expensive thing is the "predator proofing". My husband is doing an awesome job IMO.

 

[bentmtnhen]

Our birds were ready to go out, but construction hadn't even begun yet. So I decided to take the brooder box outside, lay it on it's side, & create a small run attached to it. Looks a little redneck now, but the permanent coop is underway, & the birds are quite happy!

 

[twister]

ya know that when it is over, you will have a coop that is beautiful and not skimplily made. It will last years and years and should you not want it anymore, it would likely not be a prob to sell it. Your chicks will love it and I am sure that you will too!

 

[gsim]

Only reason I got into backyard chicken raising was to have an uninterrupted supply of protein if the economy goes bad enough for my retirement savings to become worthless or to be confiscated by the govt "for the good of the people". Can either one happen? The dollar is in free-fall and the govt is lying about the rate of inflation as well as the overall state of the economy. The people of Argentina lost 2/3 or their buying power in 2000 when their govt defaulted on it's debt. It could no longer print money to cover itself because the world refused to accept it, so pensions, savings, etc were seized "for the good of the people".

Can't happen here? I am not too sure about that, so a sizable garden and two dozen pullets with a sound coop and run seemed like good places to invest some money while I still have some to invest. (I know how that sounds because I was told how kooky I was when I bought all of those silver dollars for under $4 each back in 1993. But I feared that one day the chickens would come home to roost for our economy,(pun intended) so I did it, and look today at the price of silver. I think that a good garden and a good flock of productive chickens will perform as well as that silver is doing for me one day at the rate things are going.

That is my story, and I am sticking with it. If the economy recovers and silver drops back down to under $4, I am only too happy to be the laughingstock of my family and of this web site.

Upside is that we love raising chickens and have discovered a delightful hobby and have made some good friends on BYC while we were at it.

Gerry

 

[lovemyBJG]

oh but it is sooo worth it in the end! my DH figured i would owe him 6667 eggs for labor and materials, at a pay back rate of .15 cents apiece...not counting feed! my six girls have gotten my numbers down to only 6176 the end of last month so they "pay you back" rather quickly!... and they have only been laying since last fall. we did use two existing walls and recycled all we could he calls it the 'chicken mansion' cuz we recycled a stainglass window and a screen door. but it has been worth it in terms of easy acess for cleaning etc. and besides: labor $500 materials $500, knowing where your eggs came from...priceless!

 

[Cajunrose]

I'm glad my husband isn't the only one that has calculated how many eggs the girls would have to lay to pay for themselves. I think we are up to 600 Dozen now...rofl Oh well..we love them and love the 'project' despite the cost!

Stephenie

 

[Ranger 1198]

I feel your pain. My sweet wife will never know the true cost of my coop construction project. I stopped looking at 1500.00 or so. At the end of the day, the coop is sturdy and offers a good environment my birds. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I figured my first dozen eggs were basically priceless!

 

[anitalogan]

And I thought we spent a lot at $250 for all new materials. Of course it is a smaller coop that can only house 6 chickens