The chicks are no longer the soft downy cuddle-balls that they were a few weeks ago. At four weeks, I think it is safe to say they are now in full adolescence. They have big feet, squawky voices and the feather/down combination looks like a bad haircut. The weather was nice over the weekend, so they spent quite a bit of time in our courtyard, scratching and pecking away at a whole new world. It was peaceful drinking coffee in the warm afternoon sun while my own little flock explored yet another aspect of what it means to be Chicken.
Of course, raising chickens does cost money...and being the budget conscious one in the family, I try to balance the costs with the benefits of any new project. Some of the benefits of chickens are hard to attach a dollar amount to...like eating more heathfully and being more self-sufficient. Other things are more concrete. Below I've taken a stab at a figuring the cost/benefit of raising chickens at my house:
COSTS: $346 for first year
Chicken tractor: $140 for wood, hardware and wire (You could do this for much less, or much more. We wanted something that we could move around the yard while still keeping the chickens confined. I also wanted something that looked good in the yard.)
Chickens: $35 for 5 female Red Star chicks and shipping from Connecticut. (Next time I hope to be able to go in with several folks to buy chicks locally so that we don't have to pay for shipping. Most hatcheries will only sell chicks if you buy a 25 chick minimum.)
Supplies: $40 for chick and chicken feeders/waterers (This includes the small mason jar screw-on feeder and waterer for the chicks and two-gallon size for the grown chickens.)
Bedding: $50/year for wood shavings/straw. I am going to try shredded newspaper to save money.
Feed: $9/40 lb. bag. According to Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, a laying hen eats a little under two pounds/week. Multiply that times 5 chickens and subtract about 30% that they'll get from free-ranging and kitchen scraps and that's about 9-40 lb. bags per year or $81/year.
BENEFITS: $338/year
Eggs: $208/year of large brown eggs after they begin laying (200 eggs/year/chicken at $2.50/dozen in value - somewhere between the cost of commercially grown and organic brown eggs)
Manure: $30/year savings over purchasing commercial compost/manure. A laying hen produces about 45 pounds of manure a year.
Grass care: $100/year in aeration, fertilizing and pest consumption. We are hoping that they only chemical application we have to make to our grass this summer is some lime and/or gypsum.
After figuring in the 4-5 months that it will take the hens to begin laying, we should break even in about 1-1/2 years...after that the cost of replacement chicks, feed and bedding will be our only expenses. I'm not in this to save money, it's really about having more control over what we eat and creating a more self-sustaining lifestyle. What has your experience with chickens been like? Have you had cost savings that you hadn't considered?
Hi there. Thanks for contacting me via email regarding the urban chicken legalization effort going on in Iowa City right now. Currently, there is not a formal "organization" but several small pockets of individuals flooding city council with letters urging them to consider a change, an online petition, and finally a small group is beginning to form.
I wanted to be sure to comment that Orscheln Farm & Home in Iowa City does sell chicks and most breeds are under $2 each. I know there is a store in Marion, IA as well but I have no idea if they sell chicks there. It would be worth checking into to save you a lot of cash and reduce the miles the little cuties have to travel. You can ask them what varieties they carry and they do sell feed as well (though no organic in the Iowa City store but I'm guessing if enough people start asking for it...)
Great start! Good luck.
Posted by: Stacey D | April 20, 2009 at 03:16 PM