Why do frugal families have chickens?
We have chickens. This is very common among frugal families, but it has not been a frugal process for us. Much like making the switch to cloth diapers, it has required a signficant investment. Unlike switching to cloth diapers, we don't expect to recoup our investment any time soon.
We could have done things more frugally, but we chose to build a good solid 8x10 shed for our coop. This building could potentially be used for storage, as a small barn for a milk cow or several goats, or even remodelled someday into a tiny studio apartment or awesome playhouse. Most of the materials were already purchased or free (thank you, family!) but even so we will have at least $100-200 in it.
But let's disregard the coop, and just look at the return on the birds. Chicks cost $2-3 each, or you can buy hens for $15 and up. I've been watching craigslist, and in my experience $10 or less for a laying hen is a bargain that's gone in minutes. The going price is closer to $20, though with patience you can do better. We bought 9 week old pullets for $5 each. This seems to be a very good deal, based on the amount of time and feed that has already gone into them. I've been told that you can expect to feed your chicks ~$10 by the time they start laying.
So whether you buy chicks or grown hens, you are likely to have a bare minimum of $10 in each bird before you see your first egg at 20-24 weeks. Eggs in the store this week are $1/dozen. That hen will have to lay 120 eggs to pay you back for her childhood. That's 4 months of laying daily, though most hens don't. Then you need a few more dozen to catch up for her feed since she began laying.
We also need to consider the daily care, the risk of predators, disease and attrition, and other costs like feeders and waterers.
So is owning chickens really frugal? Why do we do it? I know my answer. What's yours?
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18 Responses to “Why do frugal families have chickens?”
May 19th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Imagine how much you’d be paying for organic free range eggs. It is frugal to have your own chickens if you think about that.
I just paid 7.50 for a dozen pasture raised eggs here in Hawaii. They double the price last week. Ugh.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I’ve considered chickens in the future when I’m no longer a renter.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
We’ve had chickens for the better part of 15 years. We free range the roosters and will let the biddies out when they are 16 weeks old for a few days. We have 8 Buff Orp layers that give us exactly 1 large brown egg per day each. We do not have bug problems due to the roosters so don’t have to worry about pesticides. The roosters also kill and eat snakes, mice, voles, moles and baby rabbits (if they can corner them). We pay $2 per doz for brown eggs here so we are breaking even. It’s not for everyone but we love it.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
We DID have chickens last summer. We did not raise ours for eggs, but for meat. Again, as you mentioned the upfront cost was a bit much. However, knowing that we would only have them about 6 weeks, and we did the slaughtering ourselves saved us some cost. We paid a bit more than a good grocery store sale, but we know what our chickens had been eating and we know exactly what went into their processing. It was worth it. We won’t be able to do it this summer, but will definitely consider it again.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:43 am
I think that the enjoyment and learning factors of raising them have to count for something in your equation!
May 20th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Chickens, while not necessarily “frugal” with the startup costs, are actually a lesson in frugality.
If you have space to free range them – they can get a substantial amount of their daily nutrition somewhere OTHER than the grains you have to buy.
Additionally – you have the knowledge that they are not fed a bunch of hormones, antibiotics and that they are living in a good environment. All of this makes a difference in the taste and the health of the bird – and in the health of my family.
Chickens provide “free” labor in my garden…they clear the bugs and weeds from my beds and turn over the soil with their scratching – plus they leave behind droppings with lots of nitrogen…
additionally -when I clean their coop – I have lots of wonderful droppings to put in my compost- adding to my soil, which in turn provides us with good, healthy food.
They are actually good pets…they provide entertainment, and a subtle watchdog service. (can anyone sneak around a chicken coop – without scaring a rukkus out of them>???)
The feathers can be used decoratively (days gone by , milliners used to pay large sums for some of the tail feathers from roosters to put as the plumage in hats…. those days are gone, but think what you could do with some of those!!)
While there are costs associated with the birds – there is cost of ownership in ANYTHING – even a spouse and children (ownership is a bad word – but there is NO such thing as a free lunch!!)
For my money – give me my chickens and my ducks!
May 20th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Well, expensive food, but cheap entertainment? LOL.
Well, raise rare breed hens. The fertilized eggs, in the spring, sell as hatching eggs for $10-$20+ per dozen. Hatch your own eggs in Sept. and Oct. and sell those hens as junior laying hens in the early spring for $15-$20 each. Use the culls (the roosters) as raw food for your dogs, which you’d pay dearly for. Use your old hens as soup. Supplement grain with scraps and the more you free range, the less you supplement with food.
Just like cloth diapers (which you can sew from GoodWill sheets & towels or use prefolds or prefitteds) they are as expensive or as cheap as you make them! You just have to seek out ways to help them pay for themselves.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I began my chicken experiment one year ago this week with 15 chicks — 11 Black Australorps and 4 freebie Rhode Island Reds that were thrown in the box to keep the others warm.
I’ve made every mistake in the book (including thinking that my usually well-behaved dogs could be trusted with the chicks) and now only 3 remain — a Black Australorp rooster, a BA hen, and one of the Rhode Island Reds who turned out to be a female instead of a “throw away” male.
I figure the first egg cost me $200 (coop, chicks, feed, supplies)! But for the past six months I’ve gotten an average of 13 eggs a week — more than enough for a 2-person household.
Yes, it will be years before I make up what I’ve already spent, but I have healthier free-range eggs and the knowledge that the hens that produced them are living a fairly natural life for chickens. (Being protected in a coop at night isn’t really natural, but I figure that’s just an extra perk for them!) I also have the comfort of knowing that no matter what else may happen, I have a reliable source of high-quality protein that doesn’t have to be shipped, processed, or bought.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:23 am
MY reasons? 1. Healthful, organic eggs 2. Educational and character building (for children AND adults) 3. Entertainment. They entertain me to no end. I love to watch them. 4. Possibly “cheeper” than buying organic but I’m not sure. 5. Overall it’s very satisfying to me. I feel like I’m doing something “real”…living more like God intended us to. I’m still totally dependant on the grocery store but, hey, one step at a time!
May 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I don’t think you chose the correct comparison cost. A dozen local farm chicken eggs runs around 3.50 a dozen here although you can sometimes find them for 2.50. You will also eventually get some chicken meat- probably fairly tough but excellent for stewing, etc. Poor cuts of non-factory farm chicken go for at least $3 per pound. If you generally go for the cheapest egg or chicken you can find, they probably aren’t very frugal but when comparing apples to apples, they aren’t quite the poor investment you make them out to be.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Becky,
I totally agree with you and others who have made similar points. This is a big part of the reason we have chickens!
We’re also hoping that some of our hens will be able to hatch out new chicks for us eventually, making this an investment that continues to grow beyond our initial little flock.
We may not save money right away, but we like the opportunity to be just a tiny bit less dependent upon the grocery store, and a way to redeem all the food scraps we generate, and a hundred other benefits that might not have immediate dollar value but will add up over time.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
i miss my chickens! we had them becuz we wanted healthier, more organic food. what we found is what great entertainment they were. for us and our dog! she loved to watch them all day long.
our last set of chicks we had we let free range and our disabled son learned to run after them–great therapy!
and i agree with those who compared the eggs with organic. you can’t compare those delicious eggs to the $1/doz you get at the store.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
“Hillbilly Television”- that’s what my husband and I call it when we sit and watch our chickens’ antics. They’re pretty funny. Plus the healthy and delicious eggs are a bonus.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
brandie,
I love it! That’s what I’m going to start calling it when hubby and I watch our children’s antics.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:06 am
I suppose it depends on where you live! I rarely see eggs under 2-4 dollars/dozen here, so I wish I could have chickens! (Alas, I live in an apartment with no yard.) And if I want organic, free-range eggs, I’m looking at more than that. So, I think chickens would definitely be worth it.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
They’re worth it for us. I’m not sure how the cost breaks down, but it seems like what we make from selling the eggs (people gladly pay $3 a dozen around here) pays for their feed. We have somewhere between 60 and 80 chickens and get about a dozen eggs every day. My husband was also given an incubator, so whenever we need more birds, if we don’t care about breed (we have a mix of breeds at the moment), we just put some in the incubator and 3 weeks later – more chicks.
It’s been an interesting adventure. And I have to completely agree with whoever said that the flavor of farm-fresh eggs is far better than storebought. We also slaughter our own birds, so while the meat itself isn’t cheaper than what we could buy at the store, it has better flavor and is always available.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:23 am
brandie…Yup, Hillbilly TV…*: ) I originally got my chickens for (oh don’t let them see this…) food…After naming them…raising them from day olds…that has become impossible outside of eggs. I use the eggs to make neighborhood friends as well as for my kitchen escapades.
May 30th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
I keep 6 hens because we enjoy eggs that taste like eggs tasted during my childhood. We also enjoy watching the antics of our hens as they chase each other for the tasty morsel(usually grapes or cherry tomato) I will throw them. I love to watch them dust bathe. Their fluffing and shuddering make me laugh. My DH and I relax in the evening during the summer, by taking a tall glass of iced tea and a lawn chair back to their run to watch what we call “Chicken TV”, until they decide to put themselves to bed and we lock up the coop.
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