This is why I don't keep chickens primarily for eggs

[gtaus]

Newspaper ad for this coming week follows. This is why I never pretend to keep a small backyard flock for all those wonderful "free" eggs.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, you could find not eggs on the shelves at our local stores. So Dear Wife and were thankful we still had our daily supply of fresh eggs from my small backyard flock of 10 hens. We even had enough eggs to sell some to our regular customers. We get $2.00 per dozen for our home grown eggs, but I'm sure that is running at a loss if you consider the all the time and effort, and expenses, keeping laying hens.

However, selling our excess eggs at $2.00 per dozen is enough to pay for all my chicken feed plus a little extra to put aside for other expenses (wire, fencing, watering and feeding buckets, coop repairs, etc....) I only mention this because from time to time we get new people here on BYC forum asking if you can make money selling eggs from a small backyard flock. My short answer is always "No."

There are many other reasons to keep and enjoy a small backyard flock. First, and foremost for me, I just like having a small backyard flock of chickens. I find it relaxing to watch the chickens scratch and peck for food out in the chicken run. Chicken TV to sooth the soul. Second, I have them making chicken run compost for my garden, which improves my garden production and I get lots of good people food to eat. Third, my chickens recycle a lot of our waste, such as eating almost all our kitchen scraps and leftovers. I shred almost all our paper, newspaper, and cardboard and use that as litter in the coop and chicken run. Just with the chickens alone, we have reduced the amount of "garbage" that gets sent to the recycle center or the landfill by maybe close to half. They also break down and compost all of my lawn grass clippings and leaves. Very little yard "waste" is not recycled. I even use my wood chipper to recycle tree trimmings and yard clean ups of fallen branches and use the wood chips in the chicken coop, nest boxes, and chicken run. No more hauling yard "waste" out to the landfill for me. My chickens turn it into black gold compost.

Oh yeah, maybe the bottom of my list to keep chickens is that I get bonus fresh eggs from them.

Would love to hear from others why they keep chickens and if they agree or disagree with my random rambling.

 

[BlueBaby]

@gtaus What you have mentioned is very true. When you have a smaller backyard flock, selling those egg's is not going to be a get rich quick scheme. Any egg's that I do sell, goes towards buying more feed for them. I also sometimes feed egg's back to them, freeze some for the slower times during molting, and my dog takes his allergy med mixed up in one nightly.

I decided to get chicken's a few year's back when the price of egg's went up. I was also looking to have something to do around here to keep me occupied. I picked chicken's, and I'm not regretful for it.

I love being able to go out there and watch them, although right now it's getting to hot over here to do that much. I do however go out there several time's a day to check on them, and make sure that the water's are full enough that they all can keep hydrated well, and add ice to them for during the hottest part of the day. The weather lady on tv was predicting the temp to be 117-F in the next few day's as we start our monsoon out here in the desert, so I'll be watching out for them frequently.

As far as the recycling, I do take a few thing's in to the recycling center one that is near to me. During the past week or two, 2 of the bigger Recycling Plant's have burned up over in the Phoenix, AZ. area.

 

[Brooks_]

The quality of those not so free "free" eggs for me. That and a bit of food security.

 

[Nnyuu]

I wanted chickens more as pets than livestock. The eggs are a big plus, and mostly how I sold my husband on the whole thing, but I knew we were never going to come out on top financially by "investing" in chickens.

I have 4 young kids, all of whom have learned a lot about caring for animals and the beauty of life as we started with incubating eggs. It's been a project that has brought me great joy.

I am also a fan of chicken tv. So much in fact that if my kids aren't quite sure where I went they know to look for the chickens because that's where I am 90% of the time.

Honestly I think keeping chickens has been invaluable when it comes to my mental health. Store bought eggs might be cheaper, but I've never felt the same inner peace as I do caring for my own chickens. ❤❤

 

[Geckolady]

I wanted chickens because I love fresh eggs and felt guilty buying eggs from the store after finding out how battery hens are treated, and how the male chicks are turned into fertilizer.

Chickens tuned out to be more interesting than I expected.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I’ve always wanted chickens as a pet. The eggs are bonus.
I also sell my eggs for $2 a dozen and it all just pays for the feed.
I have people that will gladly pay the $2 over the keep eggs at the gas station because they are fresh, they get to see how the chickens live, and they are soooo yummy!!

 

[Sally PB]

I knew I wanted to get chickens when I retired. Last year, Michigan shut down on March 23. DH said he thought I should get chickens then. As it turned out, that was the day I retired.

I love the compost they make, the poop that makes the other compost better, and the eggs.

I look at it this way. The first egg probably cost $800. The rest are free.

 

[Geckolady]

I knew I wanted to get chickens when I retired. Last year, Michigan shut down on March 23. DH said he thought I should get chickens then. As it turned out, that was the day I retired.

I love the compost they make, the poop that makes the other compost better, and the eggs.

I look at it this way. The first egg probably cost $800. The rest are free.

The paying goes on. I had another coop built this week.

 

[gtaus]

I decided to get chicken's a few year's back when the price of egg's went up. I was also looking to have something to do around here to keep me occupied. I picked chicken's, and I'm not regretful for it.

Yes, there was a little spike in new chicken ownership where I live last year due to the pandemic concerns. I hope those new owners are as happy with their chickens as I have been over the years. I have never regretted getting chickens.

As far as the recycling, I do take a few thing's in to the recycling center one that is near to me. During the past week or two, 2 of the bigger Recycling Plant's have burned up over in the Phoenix, AZ. area.

I still take advantage of our recycling center, too. I just try to minimize the amount of stuff that gets thrown out as garbage, or heads to the recycling center. I added another "R" to the motto, "Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose (new addition), Recycle." I try to follow those suggestions in that order. With chickens in the back yard, very little food waste ever ends up in the trash. And all my yard waste now gets recycled through my chicken run, turns into compost, and then gets put into the garden or raised beds.

 

[gtaus]

The quality of those not so free "free" eggs for me. That and a bit of food security.

Yes. Our backyard eggs look much better than store bought eggs. The yolks from my backyard flock are a darker orange which I think must equate to a more healthy egg. Anyway, we always had fresh eggs during the the height of the pandemic when there were no eggs in the superstores where I live. And we still had enough excess fresh eggs to continue to sell to our regular customers pre-pandemic.