Is it worth it raising chickens for eggs for 1 person?

[wisemike]

Hi, I might be moving to a new city, and was trying to find ways to save money due to increasing costs of living. And I was thinking of buying a couple of ready to lay eggs pullets (1-5 pullets), as I eat nearly 10 eggs a week. I will be feeding the chicken food waste, bread, grass clippings, maybe some small fish from the pond.. etc. so nearly I won't be buying any food for them.

So, my question is, if I have a place for them (there won't be any cost for the coop or food), would it be better than buying eggs (cost-wise)? And perhaps doing the same to raise a couple more for meat.

Any thoughts about that?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Whilst your goals are physically possible, today’s chicken breeds are bred for specific outputs and are thus quite demanding in terms of diet, hence a proprietary feed is most appropriate. Trying to create a balanced diet, particularly in winter may be a challenge. Getting this right is essential for egg production as well as general health.

Also consider what you will do if you are not at home for any period of time.

Meat chicken raising would not be something that i would consider in the absence of appropriate feed.

Dual purpose birds may do the job.

Do plenty of reading here and elsewhere before you take the plunge.

Good luck
Pork Pie

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMHO, it is very difficult to save money raising a small number of chickens. If you are very astute in the field of poultry nutrition, it may work. But to get the best yield out of chickens, they need a complete nutritionally balanced feed. Improperly fed chickens won't lay very well resulting in an experiment that is a bust.
Keep in mind all the other things you need. Housing them will cost quite a bit.
You can buy eggs at the store for less than what it costs the egg farm to raise them because stores sell at a loss to bring in customers to buy more profitable goods. It is called a "loss leader".
Meat chickens is even less of a money saver.
I can buy pastured organic chicken at Whole Foods Market for less than what it costs me to raise chickens for meat.
A meat bird can't perform on the diet you are proposing.

In a nutshell, commercial poultry operations can sell their products at low cost because they raise millions of birds, have their own mills and buy ingredients by the trainload. Smaller producers at least buy feed by the ton. While people that do raise a smaller number of productive birds buy by the 50lb. bag. Unless one has acres of pristine forage, feeding table scraps, bread and other things, they won't have productive birds.

 

[snow5164]

I don’t see how this could have a good outcome , it sounds like you want to feed them a completely inadequate diet and think they will provide eggs and a healthy fat chicken for you to eat at some point???

Nope that’s not right, it’s even cruel because they will lay and sacrifice the nutritions in their body to do that, leading to health issues .

Price out the feed it’s not that costly really

 

[microchick]

I agree with @ChickenCanoe and @Pork Pie Ken as far as cost is concerned. But if you want to know where your eggs come from and reap those benefits, plan on investing in layer food (if you have a rooster, game bird food) and even with layer food you will have to supplement with oyster shell calcium for your girls.

Keeping chickens isn't cheap. You will have to figure in regular worming and medicines if and when they get sick. Feeding them healthy things like you mentioned (BTW if you plan to feed them fish, make sure they are cooked and deboned for them. Fish carry parasites when raw and a swallowed bone will make short work of a bird)

The benefits though of eating your hen's eggs IMHO is well worth the hassle and the expense. When you have extras you won't have any problem selling them. I don't sell my extras. They get given away to friends or service people like fed ex, postal workers, etc. I have been so blessed in life, just my way of saying thank you to the Big Guy Upstairs for how good life is. Or I feed them scrambled to the birds or our dogs.

I whole heartedly suggest that you read up on keeping chickens before you jump in though. There is a lot of advice and information here on BYC.

Good Luck! And BTW

 

[Pork Pie]

I don’t see how this could have a good outcome , it sounds like you want to feed them a completely inadequate diet and think they will provide eggs and a healthy fat chicken for you to eat at some point???

Nope that’s not right, it’s even cruel because they will lay and sacrifice the nutritions in their body to do that, leading to health issues .

Price out the feed it’s not that costly really

In my experience, it’s not quite so clear-cut. I one lives in Africa, for example one finds that locally bred chickens don’t receive proprietary feed and they seem to survive. Is their egg production at its optimum as a result - no, but they are kept by most families (in rural areas). I’m sure the same applies to other continents / countries.

I understand the gist of your post and I do not disagree - I’m merely sharing my thoughts / experience.

 

[Tavia Rose]

I have over 11 chickens and 10 ducks. Changing water and feeding everyday isn't too bad. I buy Purina layer feed and a bag of grains. Mealworms ever so often and I pay about $40 a week. About 60 with a big bag of mealworms. Keeping them healthy is the hardest part but most chickens are hardy. If u don't have a coop where will you keep them? If they are free ranging you may lose them to predators or other people. I'd say buying eggs is cheaper bc I easily get a dozen a day. You probably won't especially not buying layer feed.

 

[PirateGirl]

I think if you want to raise chickens for your own egg consumption, that's great. Keep in mind that laying is slower in winter (if you live somewhere the days are shorter in winter). Sometimes a bird is broody or molting and won't lay at these times either. For instance, my broody hen has not laid an egg in about 3 weeks, but should resume again soon and I expect to get 4-5 eggs a week from her. I do not have "production" birds, but rather heritage breeds. I average about 4 eggs a week per bird. Out of 5 chickens, over winter, there are days I would get 1 egg and with my luck it would be frozen solid, but in summer, most days I get 3-4 eggs from 5 chickens. I just want to give you ideas of the real numbers because I did not understand this prior to raising my chickens for eggs. I thought I'd get an egg a day from every chicken pretty much all year. I will agree with the others however, that this does not necessarily save money. Depending where you live and where you shop, it's probably cheaper to buy eggs, even if your chickens are primarily foraging for food.

 

[lazy gardener]

There will be no cost savings no matter how you look at it. Eggs cost more to produce in the back yard than they do in the factory farms. However, if you want fresh eggs, you will need to raise your own, or buy them from someone who does. Expect to pay more for a back yard egg. I have been spoiled by my girls, and won't even go out for breakfast with my husband any more b/c ... well... eggs! He'll just look at me, wink, and ask what's for breakfast. Eggs, of course!

The bigger questions: Will your yard support a small flock of chickens? Do you really have the time to put into caring for them? Do your town zoning laws permit a flock of chickens? Do you really WANT chickens, or are you merely looking at them as providing a free source of food? If you are willing to put in the time, want to be responsible for a small flock, then I advise you to commit to feeding them a blended feed, and getting no less than 4 birds. When they start laying, you can sell the extra eggs. I find that when my flock is producing, egg sales offset the cost of feed, so my breakfast eggs are free. Of course the birds also keep the yard free of pesty bugs, produce abundant compost for the garden, fertilize the lawn, give me plenty of exercise...

 

[Life is Good!]

As my DH stated upon our first eggs in the frying pan, "oh look! Our $1200 eggs!". For that was about how much we had invested into this project....cost of coop was about $900 (a tree fort is part of the build), dozen chicks were $45, feed and bedding for 26wks to reach point of lay, brooder heater, waterers, feeders, electrical supplies to connect coop to barn power ( heated waterers for winter use in IL), gutters, downspouts, rain barrel - well there's a lot more than meets the eye...

All this because I got tired of going to the store at 5:30am for more eggs... feeding teenagers is challenging!
Is it cheaper? Um, well, not at all.
Do the eggs taste better? YES!
Will I continue even after the guys are gone? Yes...but maybe with a smaller flock. But that too is hard...

Determine your realistic expectations...then read on the forums to see what challenges you will face. Predators, illnesses, flock management, and so much more....