True cost of starting a backyard flock.

[annaraven]

Well - given that I've got the capital investment of the coop and run out of the way, then the marginal cost of the eggs is just the cost of the feed and whatever else for keeping the hens healthy... So, while that first egg was, ahem, overpriced... the remaining eggs are pretty darn cheap. And the coop'll last for many years. So I can amortize the cost over the lifetime of the flock (and since we'll be refreshing the flock with new pullets occasionally so ...)I guess what I'm saying is, when you compare it to the cost of the eggs over 10 years, the real cost of the backyard flock is, um, chickenfeed.

 

[gumbii]

Quote:
LOL...


then i'm totally doing it wrong... right...? HAHAHHA... don't eat the eggs... i'm trying to breed them now... my sister is like, "let me taste a couple of mini eggs" hahaha... no cerritos... until i get me some egg and meat birds (hopefully soon) they're just a huge negative investment in chicken feed and treats...

 

[booker81]

Quote:
Of course, for those of us who did build on the cheap, the tools we have and the skills are used on a LOT of other things, and sometimes even to save/make money elsewhere. The circular and drill I use DH purchased for $20 total at a garage sale, and they are perfect for me because they are corded, and I'm hard on battery driven tools. I prefer corded tools. My toolbox is full of tools that are in various states of "abuse" - some are nearly as old as I am (some older, they are from my grandpa), but I can repair small engines with them, repair some appliances, and fix a lot of things with what I have. I'm not sure all what I have in there, but I know I have a full socket set, hammer, screw drivers, prybar, tape measure, screw driver set, level, square, pliers, nippers, and a few other things I can't remember. I think all folks should have a good stocked tool box, and it doesn't have to be brand new shiny things, garage sale stuff is good too. Good metal doesn't wear out for a long time.

As for screws and nails - you can find those at yard sales too for some reason

Of course, when we wanted to cut more ventilation into the walls, DH decided to use one of his chainsaws. We have a lot of those laying around - which would be a lot of money to someone buying them, but they've paid for themselves many, many times over with DH's tree trimming work.

So, for tool work:
Circular and drill: $20
Screws - $1

Oh, I forgot I did buy a small roll of hardware cloth for the door, that was about $10, on sale.

I think I'm still around $100.

 

[MTopPA_18707]

test

 

[JLS]

Quote:

SO TRUE!!!!

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

This is pretty much an irrelevant conversation IMHO. Reason being is that there are too many variances that affect the outcome of the final number. We can all agree that it is going to cost something, to start a backyard flock, but how much depends on many, many, many things. For instance - how many birds do you plan on keeping, bantam or standard, do you plan to build your own coop or buy a ready made one, do you need an urban backyard coop or a rural farm type.

A thrifty person, with an eye for re-purposing items, and knows how to use a hammer can start a backyard flock for nearly the mere cost of the birds themselves and a bag of feed. I once built an entire coop out of 2nd hand pallets that I got for free. I took them apart piece by piece, and built a nice size coop that served its purpose - total cost $5 for the box of nails.

In addition, someone needing a coop for a couple of hens in an urban back yard, is going to need a lot less financial investment, than someone starting a flock on a farm setting. Two hens, a plastic igloo dog house, and a roll of poultry netting will cost less than $100.


ETA: Annaraven had to buy a drill and jigsaw.... I already owned those tools. The point I'm trying to make is that everyones situation is different, and everyones startup/maintenance costs are going to differ greatly.

 

[Royd]

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Yeah, but in the end, it was all worth it, just to stick a thumb in the eye, of the city authorities, wasn't it.

 

[kfchickenlady]

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Ditto!!! yes, once you have horses, it makes everything else so much easier and cheaper

 

[patandchickens]

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). <snip> 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.

Sorry, but I still have to dispute that.

People CHOOSE to spend more, but they don't HAVE to, at least not if you are only going to keep 3-4 chickens.

Pretty much anywhere, you can fairly easily scrounge (or buy for cheap) the materials to make a simple 4x4x2 or 4x4x4 coop for considerably less than $100, often free-except-cost-of-hardware. The wood for a 4x12 run, even if you buy it full retail, is going to be less than $25 unless you *choose* to spend more. The biggest expense is $50-100 worth of wire mesh, if you have to buy it.

A year or two ago I threw together an 8x8 tractor-type pen in which to quarantine an unexpected pair of turkeys for the grand cost of "I had to use screws that I'd bought for another project". If I'd had to buy the fence mesh it would have been $50 or so, but it was stuff scrounged in past years on the general principle that you can't have too much fence wire. The wood was the better pieces salvaged from my back deck that I'd recently disassembled. In Florida or a similar climate, this 8x8 thing that I built for nearly nothing, plus a $10 tarp, would have been quite adequate housing for 3-4 chickens or maybe even more.

And it's nothing special about where I live. I've lived in upmarket suburban Philadelphia, in college towns in a number of states, and in rural areas, and although it is certainly easier to find or cheaply-acquire Useful Stuff in some places than in others, I have yet to live anywhere it can't be done. It just takes a little more patience/work/ingenuity some places than others.

It needn't look bad, either. My nearly-free turkey tractor is kind of basic-looking but could certainly have been tarted up with some paint or decor had I wished; and there are a buncha BYCers with really NICE little coops made of scrounged/leftover materials or even from pallets.

So I think it IS quite realistic to say that people get get chickens (a few, at least) for just a coupla hundred dollars upfront investment, or even less if they are lucky-and-or-diligent.


Pat, who is a bit fuzzy on how much my original 3-chicken tractor cost but it was around $300-400 and that was buying everything full retail (I had just given birth and was not in a mood to fool around), only because I "wanted it the way I wanted it". Oh, plus a $6 1-gallon waterer and the cost of the three chickens themselves

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yet... heh heh heh...

Pat