True cost of starting a backyard flock.

[fratmor]

I just got my first egg and my husband said we need a lot more to add up to the $900 we spent on the coop .not to mention the other $25 a week on food and wood shaving.they are 20 weeks hum!thats another $500 they better lay a golden egg soon. because 1 tiny egg after 20mweeks isn't doing it.

 

[aussiedude248]

My duck coop built from all NEW wood and Hardware cloth take a look at my BYC page. The Coop = $300.00 to make. The 3 mallard ducklings = $60.00. Supplies = $30.00 and the $Money$ builts up every month. It just like having a child.

 

[BigIslandChicks]

Quote:
Howzit frog!!

i was just curious if this
"In my opinion, it is bad advice to claim that anybody can raise chickens for less than a couple hundred dollars. There's a pretty good chance that if you managed to do that, then they aren't as resourceful (or lucky) as you are. That's awesome you can do that (and we all wish we could manage to do that too) but in no way should anyone claim that everybody can raise chickens at the low cost you managed to do it."


was aimed at me or what??? because i do not think that it is bad advice that anybody can start their backyard flock of chickens for less that a couple hundred dollars. the title was: to start your flock and i do think and know that it can be done for less than a couple hundred dollars. i was just saying that you dont need to spend hundreds on a pre-made coop, . we all dont need premade coops and automatic door openers. people that spend hundreds of dollars on a coop they ordered online then complain that their 1 egg in 6 months is no where near worth what they spent is just silly to me! JMO! now to "raise" chickens over years, yes the cost will be more than just a few hundred dollars to buy feed month after month. that is why i excluded feed in my total cost because that is maintenance to me not STARTING your flock with coop and birds - also just MY opinion. no where in my post did i "CLAIM" that everybody can raise chickens at the low cost i managed to what I said was "i do believe that anyone can start out with recycled stuff and just keep working at it to improve the coop over time, thats what i did!"

and you are fine to have your opinion, in which you so clearly stated that what i said was bad advice. so thanks for that. sorry everyone....it was not my intention to give BAD advice but obviously i have in your OPINION.

edit to add: alls i was trying to say was new people should not - not get chickens because they think it will cost them a $1000 to get started. sure you CAN spend that much, but i was just saying that you do not NEED to spend that much. you can do it for very little with recycled materials if thats the route you choose. if you want to buy a fancy coop - thats good for you, too! im sure if i had the xtra money i might buy a cute coop too but i did not have that option being poor and all.

 

[Tdub4chiks]

Quote:
I believe they call it "free time" so cost are ZERO! FREE!

 

[Tdub4chiks]

A brain surgeon would be economically driven to have someone build them a coop because the time they spend at work is so much more valuable than my time. They may choose to build their own coop for many reasons but saving money is not one of those because the time spent building a coop would cost them more money than buying one.

I would sure hope that a brain surgeon or anyone else would believe that good, quality time, at home with family & friends is so much more valuable than a dollar. Yes, people have to work, but money will never take the place of family & friends. If would be different if the brain surgeon were driven to save lives instead of thinking of the almighty dollar.

 

[kcfuerst]

I agree with Royd. If I had stopped to actually figure out how much it would have ended up costing me to raise 10 chicks, have a go-round with the City over keeping them (winning my case in the end) and then starting over-- I may not have done it at all. A year to plan something suitable for city aesthetics, build a predator-proof 8x8x8 hen house, then came the 10x40' run first with shade cloth and then with a corrugated tin roof, followed by a summertime misting system, rain gutters and 1000 lbs of coarse sand for the run. I am not a contractor nor could I ever build the thing I saw in my head by myself. I had to hire help. My first egg was $7,850. I will never "re-coop" my costs at $3/doz for the small number of eggs I sell, but I will tell you that the hours of enjoyment, fabulous eggs, super fertilizer, and awesome pest control has been worth every cotton-pickin' penny! Hind site is 20/20 and I won't complain since it's all paid for. There is nothing as delightful as seeing your grandkids getting to collect Grammie's eggs!

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
I figure as long as I spent less on the one-time startup cost for the chickens than my husband spent last year on cigarettes, I'm doing fine. So far, I've spent about 1/2 what he did on cigs.

AND I don't spend impulse money at the farmers market because I go there less often because I don't need to buy eggs there anymore.

 

[kera!]

It is interesing to read this we are doing chickens as a self sufficietcy thing and also to teach our kids to appreciate where food comes from and resposibilty. The cost more than eggs for a few years. The real value more than the $$$$

 

[frog522]

Quote:
My post was not aimed at you. It was a general response to a culmination of responses I've read on BYC over the past few months. No one is saying that it's mandatory to spend $2,000 on starting new to raising chickens. At the same time, it's not realistic to tell somebody they can raise chickens for no cost, or virtually no cost either (none of these comments are aimed at you). Comments I've read from posters saying, "The decision to raise chickens should only cost you $125, you shouldn't have to spend more than that!", in general isn't realistic for a person completely new to building or raising animals. Although I don't think the majority of people think this, I have observed that there are select members that have the attitude that spending hundreds of dollars is wasteful and that we should all be able to raise chickens for the cost they did.

The more sensible members believe that chickens are an investment as pets or animals they are happy and proud to raise. It has cost some more than others; some have the ability and wish to put in more into their chickens. Others don't have the money and have to come up with solutions that are more cost effective. And there are those that are able to pay more but purposely or (purposefully) choose to spend less by finding alternate solutions.

As I originally posted, I do think it's bad advice for someone to claim you don't need more than a couple hundred dollars to raise chickens, giving a person totally new to raising chickens that that is what it will cost. It's the same with any sort of purchase. One could say buying a car only costs $200, paying your child through college can only cost $500 for a 4-year college, or Christmas presents this year should only cost $10 for the year; that's great for that person but telling others they can do it for the same amount does not give a realistic impression. It's the same as telling a young child learning arithmetic that it should only take 10 seconds to figure out a simple arithmetic operation in their head because that's what a parent/adult thinks how long it will take. For a learning child, it could take longer that that, a minute, 5 minutes, an explanation, or even another lesson to finally do it correctly. Eventually the child will be able to do it right, and faster too. I see this as analogous to the cost of raising chickens.

As for me, knowing what I've learned in raising chickens and building a coop and run, if I were to build another coop/run in the future, I'm confident I could build it for at least half the cost. Why? Because I've learned what has worked and what hasn't worked, what's needed and what's extraneous. You could say I learned the hard way or you could say that's what has come from learning and experience. And maybe I'll search around for recycled materials too.

 

[gumbii]

well... the only thing i paid for were two boxes of nails, and a couple of 2x4's for the large run... i already had a huge roll of chicken wire that a neighbor gave me... and i've also picked some up for free on craigslist... my first too coops were 100% pallet wood... i also made some feeders out of buckets and pallet wood...

i just recently started making breeder coops for my OEGB pairs and trios... let me do a break down...

$10 15' roll of cloth wire...
$12 for sheet of plywood... also made 2 layboxes out of this... awesome...
$8 for 4 8' 2x4 premium lumber from lowes... i split them into 2x2"s because it's cheaper that way...
$2 for hinges at walmart... some heavy duty ones... pretty dope...
$8 box of screws... yeah, i get those expensive ones with the hex driver... they don't need pre-drilling... more awesome...

so $40 bucks total per pair or trio OEGB... not bad if you want to start say, a small pair or trio... my 10x5x5 run was only made by 8 2x4's and some chicken wire...





i dunno... you can spend $texas amounts of cash on your happy birds, or hardly anything for your happy birds too...


also, i know that "time is money" but i kind of hate that saying... maybe because i'm mexican, and all of my neighbors are mexican, but around here that saying isn't said... like, if i need something done, my neighbor will come and help me out with it and he will not expect me to pay him anything... i have even helped him re shingle his roof and didn't expect anything for my time... my primary hobby is reef keeping, and everyone that does you a favor, expects some kind of payment for the help... i hate that... i have never taxed anyone or anything before... even when i had no income or cash in my pocket...



just sayinnn...