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?

  • ThomasWilliams@lemmy.world
    8·
    24 hours ago

    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.

      • sem@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        Yes. A modern broiler chicken grows so large, so fast, if it were not slaughtered it would die anyway. Surely a cursed existence.

      • Zos_Kia@jlai.lu
        1·
        8 hours ago

        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.

      • TwoTiredMice@feddit.dk
        15·
        21 hours ago

        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

        The indigenous hen lays around 20 eggs a year, whereas a modern laying hen produces around 320 eggs a year. In other words, being a hen bred for the food industry is a full-time job. In fact, the egg laying appears to be such a strain on Danish as well as foreign hens that it results in bone fractures.