Why I came out ahead:
I already owned two good dogs when I moved here and they free range on a wireless system that allows them to protect nearly my whole acre. Only one needed trained to chickens and this was accomplished with very little effort or fuss. They are my flock insurance and they really don't eat much. They eat all culled eggs, chicken scraps and leftovers, apples, deer trimmings and their own food.
I had cattle fencing on three sides and I used old fence posts that I found here to erect the fourth side along the road. The gates were either built from scrap lumber from a building my boys and I tore down for a friend, or part of a chain link fence from the same source.
The hen house was already here...it leans like a drunken sailor and has gaps as wide as my fingers in the walls and flooring....but the roof is good and it is sturdy. I opened another window across from the existing large windows that cover the back wall. I found long poles made from saplings under the coop and used them for roosts. I think these had been used for pole beans. I nailed flattened cardboard boxes inside the walls to keep most drafts out in the winter. I cover the windows with plastic in the winter.
Understandably, my coop would not win any beauty awards.....
But I find it adorable!
I already had the nest boxes but I would have built some from scrap lumber if I hadn't.
I free range my flock and only feed once in the evenings...and only what they can clean up right then. This way they have already filled their bellies with good forage and no one goes to bed hungry if they did not forage enough. Also, this cuts down on feed loss to rodents....and keeps from attracting rodents. I also have two cats who help with this.
My feeder is the old trough style feeder but I wrapped welded wire around it to prevent flicking and scratching...this prevents waste.
The building next to my coop was an old building that we cut holes into, built ramps up to, and sectioned off to include a broody pen that has an opening into the hen house. This shed also holds the dog houses and some hay.
I do not feed medicated feeds and do not have my chicks vaccinated. I feel that this only weakens the birds...any chick that cannot survive without medicated feeds were obviously already too weak to make it on my place....here only the hardy can live. These mountains are prone to weather extremes...you have to be one tough bird to live here. I'm in the business of producing a thriving flock, not a weak bunch of sissies that cannot survive without meds and coddling.
I do put unpasteurized apple cider vinegar in the water and my birds are outside and on the ground as soon as they feather out a little. The sooner the better....usually 2 wks. of age. I have never wormed a flock in all my years....never saw worms in the stool and wouldn't even if I did. Every creature has parasites~even us....and the strong ones live and thrive despite this.
I use pine shavings on the floor~$5 a bag~but have scrounged these from local sawmills before for free. I only have to use two or three bags of these per year. I supplement my deep litter with shredded paper from the office. I clean out the deep litter once or twice a year. My coop has no foul odors and my birds stay warm and toasty all winter without heat and with the pop door open at all times. We get some pretty cold winters here.
The deep litter can be turned with chicken power...just throw in a little BOSS and watch them go to town. This also keeps them occupied during deep snows.
I use broody hens to babysit mail order chicks....no lamps necessary, no pasty butts, no dead chicks. I also let broodies hatch out new flock members. I choose only hardy, dual purpose breeds known for good laying, cold tolerance and foraging abilities.
I sell my eggs for $2 a doz. and can't keep up with the demand even though I have a flock of over 30. At maximum production, I get well over two doz. a day....that comes to approx. $16 per wk, with max time for about 5 mo. out of the year.
This makes for $380 for those five mo. only...this pays for 17- 100# bags of feed. My birds use about 125# of feed per month in the winter and around 75 # during these peak production times in the spring and summer. I use about 1300 # of feed per year, give or take. My birds are paying for 1700 # of feed
in only five months of peak production. They are still producing the other 7 mo. as well.
Either way you slice it, my birds have been offsetting the costs of their keep and the fencing, equipment, chicks, etc. for some long time now. I'm coming out WAY ahead. I also do not have to pay for eggs nor chicken at the store. I don't have to search far to find supplemental protein for my dogs. My eggshells are recycled back into chicken feed.
My customers save their cartons for me...and even people who aren't customers do this because they know I have chickens.
I eat all culled birds and extra roos. Everyone works here...if she isn't laying, she is soup. If the dogs did not do a good job, they wouldn't be here. If the cats do not hunt, they do not stay for long. So far, all extra staffing have been working up to par and thus I have a good working team.
I have only lost two to hawks in the four years I lived here and none where I used to live. I've lost two chicks to a snake. I lost some birds to heart failure the first year~just fell off the roost~but none since then. No birds have been ill or died from any illness or disease.
I use 2 gal. bleach jugs for killing cones.
My total chores related to chickens last about 5 min. per day. My chickens have a great life, a merciful and quick death and are repurposed as food. They are self-sustainable, hardy and productive. They make me money and look beautiful on my lawn.
And that, my dear roos and hens, is how I come out ahead!
