My bank app says I've spent £450 ($600 US) at the local ag co-op where I buy my feed in the last six months, but some of that would be for one-off purchases like tools, hardware, other equipment or clothing and only some of those are chicken-related.
Food (a commercial feed and extras like sardines) is really the only regular, ongoing cost. I'll buy wood pellets for incubator chicks until they're outdoors full-time but try not to pay for bedding/nesting materials for the older birds when I can use homemade hay or bracken or something else that's free. Fine beach gravel collected from a spot where there's lots of shell does for both calcium and grit, although I'll buy a small bag once or twice a year out of laziness.
One-off or very irregular expenses like adding or replacing housing, fencing etc obviously adds quite a bit on to those costs when there's a lot needing done.
I always have "around 20” chickens.
Food (a commercial feed and extras like sardines) is really the only regular, ongoing cost. I'll buy wood pellets for incubator chicks until they're outdoors full-time but try not to pay for bedding/nesting materials for the older birds when I can use homemade hay or bracken or something else that's free. Fine beach gravel collected from a spot where there's lots of shell does for both calcium and grit, although I'll buy a small bag once or twice a year out of laziness.
One-off or very irregular expenses like adding or replacing housing, fencing etc obviously adds quite a bit on to those costs when there's a lot needing done.
I always have "around 20” chickens.

