raising chickens as a money saver??

[Artemis Fowl]

If you want to raise your own meat, maybe try rabbits? They are about 10 times easier to "harvest" and don't need alot of space and they are WAY quieter.

 

[joebryant]

How to Save a Lot of Money Raising Chickens
***
1. Dig a deep hole .
2. Put five one hundred dollar bills "chicken money" in the bottom of the hole.
3. Cover the money with dirt as you fill the hole.
4. Forget where the hole is.
5. Never buy any chickens.
6. Don't EVER think of spending any more money on chickens again.

 

[Jeffa]

I thought raising chickens was gonna be just a "feathered money pit". After 2 years of the wife buggin' the snot outa me about wanting to have layers...I finally ran out of reasons to say no and relented. The coop and run construction was almost free...I converted an old 6 X 10 shed to a coop.....had enough fencing to build an awesome run...and the feeder/waterers were a negligible expense. Bought 12 Golden Comets from the Chichester TSC at the end of March....brooded them for about six weeks in a huge dog kennel in the mudroom, then plopped them in the coop with some heat lamps. Wifey loved them from the day I drug 'em home but it took me a while to warm up to them. As they grew older...they started to grow on me. I started building them stuff to hang out on in the run......made sure they had plenty of treats....stuff like that. I was shocked during the last week of July when I discovered the first egg. Never expected any til September. Now...we get between 10 and 12 eggs per day and there are ladies in my wife's office that beg for her fresh eggs. We keep 3 dozen a week for our own usage and she sells the rest at $2.50 a dozen and can't keep up with demand. Our girls gnaw through a 50 pound bag of pellets in about a month and we sell about 3 dozen eggs a week....so....they make enough money to feed themselves. She commented the other day that she wishes she had gotten 24 chicks last spring instead of just 12...Do ya suppose she is settin' me up for more chicks come spring?? Oh yeah..other added benefits we get...I always have a huge garden and mixing the chicken manure with all the garden clippings in the compost bin makes an awesome fertilizer!!!! And don't laugh at me but I hung some icicle lights off their run and they love looking at them when the sun goes down. darn chickens...what have they done to me?????

 

[Cowgirl71]

It's next to impossible to raise chickens for meat and eggs cheaper than the store's pricing if you don't have an existing building or a next-to-free way to build one. The quality of the meat and eggs IS so much better though. But it's certaintly not a way to save money....

 

[lacasitarojafarm]

Quote:

I spend more money of the cornish srosses, buying them, feeding them butchering them, then storing them than I could ever save. You get 69 cent a poud chickens in the store. I can't compete wtih that. The egg layers as well. Housing, food, bedding for the floor, my personal time....when you calcualte it it is much more expensive that the cheap tasteless eggs from the store.

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
You sound like my hubby! LOL Those chickens have cast a spell over them! He never could understand WHY I love them so, until he built a super 16X10 coop and started playing with them... LOL Now he looks through the magazines and catalogs and picks out the ones he likes... so next spring we will get some Sebrights just for him!

He had NO idea this would happen to him....

 

[blaundee]

Quote:

I spend more money of the cornish srosses, buying them, feeding them butchering them, then storing them than I could ever save. You get 69 cent a poud chickens in the store. I can't compete wtih that. The egg layers as well. Housing, food, bedding for the floor, my personal time....when you calcualte it it is much more expensive that the cheap tasteless eggs from the store.

Yet SO worth it!!!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

It CAN save you money IF you think about all the angles. Here's a few examples:
1. Pest Control.
2. Free compost and/or fertilize that will grow more produce in your garden.
3. Egg layers. Meat providers.
4. They have a certain ammount of entertainment value.

IF you build a coop with salvaged materials, feed scraps, maintain their health, and keep predators at bay, you CAN have a flock worth their keep. It just depends on how you use your resources. There are certain breeds you can even sell the cocks feathers when you butcher as an added moneymaker. You WILL NOT wind up with grocery store prices, but we all know these are not grocery store birds either. You will have a quality end product, from the eggs to the meat.

 

[lacasitarojafarm]

Yet SO worth it!!!

Too true and not just in tastier food but their antics and their personalities are very fun.​

 

[norahsmommy]

Quote:
I have a 1 acre property but it is not fenced. So I don't know if they can free range. Is that enough area or will they wander into the neighbors yard?