I do not understand the mathematics behind the dilemma. I’m assuming only the firts chicks cost money, because down the line they will breed.
But feeding them, housing them - vitamins and doctoring costs a lot of money.
So anyone with couple or more chickens - how much does it cost to have them on the table? And realistically how many eggs do you get?
Yep, that’s why I am asking of how much they cost for a regular backyard chicken coop.
Had some friends that tried doing that about three years ago. They finally gave up (and moved) recently.
Gave away their 15-20 chickens, coop, fence, etc. IMHO, they are much happier now.
The cost of feed, mite treatment, lice treatment, bedding, vaccinations, etc were much higher than anything they claimed to “save”. And that’s not counting all the time and labor they put into it.
Found this with a simple web search: https://coopeduplife.com/backyard-chicken-egg-production-cost-statistics/.
The husband of a couple we know have a few chickens in a coop in their back yard. Definitely pets, but they do get eggs.
The major difference between them and a “normal” person is the wife is a veterinarian, so he pretty much has the healthcare of his birds covered.
Glad it worked out for them! I think the main reason “normal” people have trouble is that they don’t understand all the issues involved.
For example, my friends didn’t realize they had to de-lice and do other things for them. Also didn’t know to buy “laying feed” for them to be able to lay eggs.
If people want to do it as a hobby/pets/know where their food comes from/etc that’s great. Just realize what you are buying into.
Yeah, I couldn’t do it myself. The closest we got was our guinea pigs, but they are friends not food.
Yes. Friends. Until a hard winter sets in. Then can always reevaluate.
You forgot the biggest impediment. Foxes and or coyotes. Doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of suburbia they’ll find you.
As I said elsewhere, I’ve had chickens multiple times. Coyotes and foxes never killed 1, neighborhood dogs are what learn they are there and if 2 out of 3 dogs don’t hurt them, the third dog will, and will be back every chance they get. You’ll tell their owner, the owner will be more careful, and they’ll still get out eventually. So you’ll have to shoot that dog and still live in that neighborhood
Shooting **any **pets in my state is a crime if they aren’t attacking humans.
I’m in Texas and have had neighbors dogs kill 3 of our birds. After the second time it happened the cops that came out to assess the property damage told us to shoot the dog next time it came into our yard - this is in a major city.
If your animal is on other people’s property murdering other animals and causing property damage you shouldn’t be allowed to keep that animal. Especially if there are kids in the neighborhood.
Yeah our neighbors dogs are now registered as an aggressive animal and a dangerous animal. One killed two birds and another killed a third bird and lashed out at me.
The neighbors effectively neglect the pups and don’t take them for walks or whatever. They get bored and chew through the fence to get to our flock.
Gotta be a responsible dog owner and keep the pup in your own yard…
Interesting! Thank you for your answer!
We got 50 broiling chicks for $2.50 each. We started slaughtering them after 8 weeks when they were a size 25 (2.5 kg) and had finished by 11 weeks when they were a size 38 and were beginning to break their legs.
The $5 supermarket chicken is a size 12, it’s less than 4 weeks old and is still covered in down.
Break their legs??? Have we engineered chickens to get so fat their legs fucking break from the weight?!
Yes. A modern broiler chicken grows so large, so fast, if it were not slaughtered it would die anyway. Surely a cursed existence.
Chickens have been bred to be meat bioreactors. but at that the meat is old and woody.
That is so bizarre. My dad’s had chicken for as long as I’ve been alive, and doesn’t slaughter them until much later and much bigger. I’ve never heard of them breaking their bones.
It probably depends on the variety, I know my dad is kind of into heirloom and older breeds so that’s probably a factor.
Wait until you hear what happens when they lay their eggs… Research from the University of Copenhagen found that around 85% of Danish laying hens suffer from keel bone fractures, which are caused by the internal pressure of laying disproportionately large eggs…
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210902124929.htm
Ouch! More things I learnt in this thread than I expected… Thank you!
Yes.
Thank you! That was informative!