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 had chickens for many years, and have many family members with chickens. My summary would be that in general, backyard chickens are cheap pets but pricy(ish) eggs. However, this is a tough question, as there is a price range on grocery eggs, and also different ways to own chickens, with wildly different costs (and egg production). The biggest single cost for owning chickens is the coop (and run). If you can build that yourself, it helps a lot.
@ai6yr the most expensive recurring cost is feed, and depending on what kind of feed you choose, that can vary by several fold, and the amount of forage you provide matters too (which in turn can depend on the coop/run situation).
@ai6yr I’d say for us, we spent more on owning chickens than we saved on buying eggs (maybe around 50% more) but I knew what the chickens were eating, and they got plenty of exercise, plus we chose breeds for friendliness and heat tolerance, rather than egg production. depending on how you approach it, YMMV
@ai6yr and of course, the breed of chicken matters too - some lay occasional eggs, others reliably produce 1 egg/day most months (when daylight hours dip, to get eggs you need to supplement light). Do you want cute chickens? Friendly chickens? Egg laying champs? Chickens that forage?