Question for chicken owners, out of curiosity: what do you think the ACTUAL price of a dozen eggs is from the backyard chickens?
Include: feed, enclosure/repairs, lost chickens from predators, vet visits, chicken retirement lodge, chicken sweaters and hats, etc etc? #chickens
@ai6yr I couldn't even begin to make an accurate guess, but it's definitely not cheaper. A buck an egg or maybe even more.
If people think it's about cheap eggs, they're way off - it's about self-sufficiency and getting healthy eggs from healthy birds that aren't abused in a factory farm.
We always joke that it's only a money saving proposition if they start laying jewel-encrusted eggs
@N3VEM @ai6yr there are side benefits as well depending on how you have your flock setup. I hear from friends in tick-heavy regions that their flocks pretty much eliminate ticks everywhere they're allowed to roam. I used to use their manure as free fertilizer. And the feathers can be useful in attracting other birds such as swallows (they use chicken down as nesting material) which help to control the mosquito population.
@douglasvb @N3VEM @ai6yr
One of my daughter's former allergists moved to NC (?) and was quoted a lot in Consumer Reports several years ago.
Short version: lots of new research coming re ticks AND IT'S ALL BAD!
@douglasvb I told my husband about chicken helpers but he said we don't have any ticks in our small yard. Barely related: Sy Montgomery has a new book:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-the-chicken-knows-a-new-appreciation-of-the-world-s-most-familiar-bird-sy-montgomery/21108176?ean=9781668047361&next=t