Golden eggs

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Permalink Reply by stephanie st loe on November 8, 2012 at 9:12am

Yes, its not cheap to get set up. I do feel for you-I spent about $1000.00 on my coop. I did the math before I started and I too was a little dissapointed that it didn't really look like I would be saving any money. If we just stick to dollars math you want to build a coop that will hold the maximum amount of chickens-building a bit bigger doesn't cost much more. You can also think longer term-what if you spread your set up costs over 30 years of eggs? You might need replacement chickens every few years-but raising chicks is cheaper. You can save money on feed by collecting not-quite-nice-enough-to-sell veggies from local markets before they throw them out or collecting grass and dandelion greens, food scaps etc, though you always need a base of layer feed to keep an adequate calcium and protien balance. In order to be saving money you need to actually use all the eggs you get too, as we can't legally sell them in Vancouver. I think if you are only concerned with the financials, the math is not encouraging. However, in addition to fun, you get the benefit of knowing what you're eating-no antibiotics, hormones, etc etc. If you do some research into commercial egg production you'll be horrified. It's inhumane and they feed a lot of things you don't want in your food. One of my favorite benefits is the flavor! We feed organic layer mash with a lot of dandelion, pumpkin scraps, grass clippings, food scarps-all organic. Our eggs taste fantastic. I think in all fairness you ought to use $6.50 a dozen in your calculations as your eggs can compare to the nicest organic free range on the market.

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