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Golden eggs

Hello people, Ive just arrived on the chicken scene and am wondering if there is a cost benefit to having your own layers or is it just for fun? So far building the coop ive put in 240 dollars and then two bags of feed, one laying mash the other cracked corn was 40 bucks. And now i need a bale of straw for 20 dollars. Ive only got three hens because the space isn't huge and they cost me 65. Thus far ive done this on my own so that's a total of 365 just to get started which is the equivalent of 73 doz eggs at 5 bucks a doz. I think it would take me a very long time to aquire 73 doz eggs. Can anyone help me to make this venture a little less expensive? Furthermore I'd love to see some coops, did the tour of coops happen? I do love my hens, and am getting a lot of pleasure out of them, but I don't think this is really urban farming because the cost is far more than purchasing organic eggs. So I don't think anyone should be fooled that there is a cost benefit to having your own chickens.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alyssa K on November 7, 2012 at 11:06am

My girls are pets, the eggs are a bonus.

There have been several coop tours; unfortunately I have been out of town for all of them. You're welcome to come look at my coop near Commercial Drive.

Permalink Reply by Caroline on November 7, 2012 at 5:06pm

That would be fun, anyone is welcome to see mine as well

Permalink Reply by Penny on November 7, 2012 at 1:30pm

Yes the set up costs are tough! Obviously if we all were real farmers we would be having more chickens and more eggs to balance this out. Also since they finish laying really after 2 years you would be culling and eating them to recoup part of those costs as well. So yes it's only really for pleasure although it does help to make a community more social, we have lots of visits from neighbours, strangers etc. who want to come and see the chickens and take away a few eggs, so that's a definite plus.

Good luck, enjoy.

Permalink Reply by Caroline on November 7, 2012 at 5:04pm

Hey, thanks for the comments I replied from my email, but I don't think it worked. I guess I'll copy and paste it here: Yes I like the community aspect of it, before I had chickens I used to take my children to visit neighbors chickens, now my children bring the kids they babysit to see ours, but my neighbors right next door aren't enthused, I think they would complain if I let them get a little bit stinky so I work hard to keep on top of it 'cause they are little stinkers! Oh well I guess you can't please everybody. How many do you have, and do you have the classic operation or your own design?

Permalink Reply by Alyssa K on November 7, 2012 at 8:03pm

I have 4, two of them brought all the way from Colorado!

What's the 'classic operation'?? A VanCooper?

Permalink Reply by Caroline on November 8, 2012 at 6:29pm

Yes I was thinking of the VanCooper. I guess 4 is a good number for eggs, you must get a decent amount of eggs. What are your breeds? I got my three from Emily Robertson in Langley. One is pure Sussex and the others are Sussex crosses, one with Welsummer and the other Chinese Langhorn. Mine are white brown and black. The Sussex is an excellent winter layer. I get one to two eggs a day, sometimes none. It's only enough for my family of three, I've only managed to give away four eggs so far, I don't know how people manage to give eggs away.

Permalink Reply by Alyssa K on November 8, 2012 at 9:14pm

In answer to your original question, I do not have a Vancooper, but Duncan played a big part in the construction of what I do have (mostly alley-finds and cobbled together).

I have 1 White Brahma (white color), 1 BO (Buff Orpington, gold color), 1 RIR (Rhode Island Red, red color), and 1 Black Star (black color). The brahma and the BO are 4 years old, the brahma is still laying 5 eggs a week (!) -(I think she'll start up again - she's been molting for the last few weeks, so not now of course), the BO has not laid for a while but she has some health issues (and will probably never lay again but she's my nicest girl). The RIR and BS just started this summer, they are not yet a year old. I am pretty sure the BS is still laying right now (winter), the RIR maybe not as often. I still have more eggs than I can eat! I didn't eat a lot of eggs to begin with and so I make quiche or Avgolemono periodically to use them up. And trade with my neighbors. I've traded for garden tomatoes, wild blackberries, and wild blueberries so far. :-)

Permalink Reply by Caroline on November 10, 2012 at 6:23am

That's lovely. It sounds like you have some lovely breeds too. You must be having fun. They are fun aren't they - so cute, I've got one, my Sussex, who keeps on wanting to come in the house! - I let them range in the back yard 'cause we have a 6 foot high fence, so they've got the whole backyard and my dog keeps the crows, cats and racoons at bay. I just have to hose down the pathways otherwise the backyard turns into chicken shit central! - but they're too cute to keep locked up! Anyway, bye for now. Could my kids and I see your hens? email me at [email protected] Thanks :)

Permalink Reply by Penny on November 8, 2012 at 9:15am

Caroline:
I also make sure that my yard and coop is very clean and non-smelly for the neighbours, although four chickens won't add up to large amounts for a while. Give your crabby neighbours some eggs and maybe they'll come around. Our neighbors love us for the eggs although now my chickens are ending their time for egg laying, sigh!! Dane is right fresh eggs are priceless!!

I have attached a picture of our coop. After many trials and errors and leaky roofs we have finally a real coop and run.

Permalink Reply by stephanie st loe on November 8, 2012 at 9:37am

Re crabby neighbors. Yeah, neighbor stuff. As long as you clean it out once or twice a week it really shouldn't get too funky. I find sand in the run really helps. When I first brought the girls home and the first poop landed I thought-OMG what have I done! But in about 7 seconds the sand had sort of dried it out enough to get rid of the smell. It might help to plant something tallish between the coop and the neighbors-out of sight out of mind actually works quite well. Some people just plain dont like the idea of urban chicken coops. They are probably republicans at heart. The only legitimate complaint is smells, so they sniff very carefully in order to legitimize their complaint. If you are anxious just review the city's guidelines-make sure your coop is 1 meter from the property line and 10 meters away from their house and you are not storing large quantities of poop anywhere except mixed into your compost. If so, nothing to worry about-just keep smiling at them. Lend them a tool or something.

Permalink Reply by Caroline on November 8, 2012 at 6:43pm

Oh, I wasn't aware of the 1 meter from the property line bit etc.... I've placed my coop in an unused part of our garden, under some steps, significantly away from our house but butting against our fence which butts against their fence (yes we have two fences in the back yard, theirs an open brick, mine solid wood) It's a long story how this makeshift coop happened. I will tell it a bit later. I will show pics though now. :)

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Permalink Reply by stephanie st loe on November 10, 2012 at 10:34am

That's so smart using the space below the stairs. Very efficient. I bet those stairs are at least 1 meter from the property line if they were built to code.