why I come out ahead

[joebryant]

I'm one of the nay sayers about making a profit with back yard chickens. In spite of all the ideas given here, I still think nobody's making an actual profit unless they consider their TIME to be worth less than zero. I can see buying three or three hundred chickens, putting them in a free dog house or garage, giving them the run of the yard, and selling their eggs for $3 a dozen. Coming out ahead on feed bills could happen, but when it comes to my time and effort being thrown into the equation... ain't no way. If you spent the time you spend on your chickens working at McDonald's for a minimum wage...

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
To answer this.... The hour and a half to two hours total I spend a week having to take care of my chickens I still come out ahead! And for me that's them paying for themselves. Other than cleaning the coop a little bit, feeding & watering what else do you have to do? I originally got my chickens because I wanted them not in any way to make a profit but when I started selling the eggs it was like lagniappe. And I still get eggs away!!

Just my opinion but there it is!!

Missi

 

[savingdogs]

I enjoy my time with my chickens and collecting eggs. I'm still a newbie, but I like washing eggs and having them to sell. It is cool having my rainbow colored eggs. There is an entertainment value in watching the birds themselves, I don't think counting the labor time into the equation is very fair when you would PAY for something to entertain oneself.

I admit I don't like cleaning poo but those tasks really don't take me very much time because I have mine in a big space. As "pets" go, they are really low maintenance once you have everything set up.

I think most people are losing money on their chickens because they spend too much setting it up. If you spend 500 plus on a coop, those first eggs are mighty expensive.

 

[joebryant]

Whatever, I bet that if you were paying business income tax, you could think of a hundred legitimate/actual deductions to show your losses and have them approved by IRS.

 

[nanawendy]

rhonda_bruce I hear ya... Let's barter with a geek. The geek can teach use to cut and paste and we can give them eggs... BINGO

 

[Beekissed]

Joe, I don't know how you are set up but I don't spend more than 5 min. per day---most of that time is spent walking to the coop, petting the dogs and sheep~ on my chickens except for the two times a year that I clean out the deep litter. I don't even turn my litter...I let the chickens do that. Other than feeding and watering, which consists of turning on the hose and aiming it...my chickens don't seem to require much time.

If I'm getting paid for my time....heck, I get free exercise and free therapy in my 5 min. maintenance of chickens....priceless.

Personally, if keeping chickens were costing me both time AND money, I would definitely get out of keeping them....seriously not worth it. If I had to spend hours taking care of any of my animals they would be gone in a heartbeat. Maybe y'all should get a better system going? Streamline, streamline, streamline......

Rustyswoman, I use shredded paper from the office all the time and it seems to compost better than the wood shavings. I don't notice my chickens eating it at all...but then, I free range all day so they have more interesting things to eat.

 

[christa7032]

I think at this point I am doomed when it comes to making a profit! I have lost so many hens to predators (even when I thought I had them in a predator proof pen something still was reaching through the chain link/ wire mesh & killing them) that I spend most of my time waiting for that first egg! Also, my hubby built me a good coop but since he built it onto the side of a garage that he was building at the same time it didn't really cost much more to add it on (especially since he is a contractor so he gets a good discount at Lowe's), and we used a lot of scrap materials on it. My run is our old dog kennel but we did have to buy some extra mesh since 2 layers of wire wasn't enough to keep them safe! and a tarp to cover the top. I am hoping that I will start breaking even again (with regards to food costs) by selling my eggs to friends when this batch begins laying (hopefully next month). Also, next year I will have my garden up and running again so I will be able to start composting and feeding them scraps again to offset costs. Thanks for the tips though, and I am jealous of those of you who live in areas where you can get free bedding because here in southern california there aren't many natural trees and our lot is pretty bare besides weeds. I will definitely try the Rye tip next year though! Thanks. Keep the tips coming!

 

[patman75]

Great list.

Some other tips...

Check craigslist for building materials
Plant grapes, mulberries or other fruiting trees where the chickens have access to them.

 

[onthespot]

Hi Christa, I live in So Cal too. Dead leaves really work well for bedding, and they are free. you may not have trees at your place, but I bet if you put up an announcement at a senior center near you that you would be willing to rake up dead leaves for free, you would find donors for your bedding project. Seniors that have lived in their same home for a long time tend to have large trees and would LOVE the help cleaning them up.

 

[christa7032]

Thanks for the tip, I will have to try that. Most of the trees around my house are evergreen or (on my property) have so few leaves that they fly away before the tree is done losing them.