When doing research on raising chickens, one of the most common questions is "how much it costs." There is a variety of items to consider when creating a budget for raising chickens. However, direct expense is not all we need to consider. It is also important to access a value to other aspects such as value of a healthy diet, diminished cost of purchasing eggs or chicken meat and satisfaction of chickens as pets. Below is a list of items to start our planning:
1. Number of chickens you seek to raise.
2. Type of chickens you purchase
3. Type of food you purchase
4. Type of food and water containers
5. Space restrictions on your property
6. Type of nesting boxes
7. Aesthetics of your chicken coop
8. Storage for supplies and feed
Let's start at the very beginning as we dissect the economics of owning chickens. There are about 15 common breeds of chickens found in feed stores. While each breed will cost you $2.45 - $3.00 per chick depending on your supplier, deciding on the size of your flock is a factor. Smaller bread hens such as the Leghorn will weigh in at approximately 5lbs., while large birds like Plymouth Rock hens or "Rocks" weigh in near 8lbs. Pricing on purchasing your hens will vary depending on your location and when buying in quantities. Because we are trying to develop a list of expenses lets calculate our cost based 10 common hens that weigh 6.5lbs. This gives us a current expense of roughly $26.50 for our chicks.
Similarly to where you buy your chick, pricing on food will vary as well. The most accessible brand of chicken feed is made by Purina Mills. They have several types depending on the age of chickens; Start and Grow for young chicks (0-10 weeks), Flock Raiser during adolescent stages (11-20 weeks) and Layena when your hens are ready to being laying. You best value is the 50lb. bag with Start and Grow at $14.50/bag and Layena at $13.50/bag.
So know we know what type of feed our flock needs but how much do chickens eat? The exact amount can vary as much as it does for children. Keeping in mind our common 15 breeds weigh approximately 6.75lbs on average, you can figure each chicken will eat 4-6 ounces of feed by weight, each day. Let's extend some numbers again to our feed. Each 50lb. bag contains 800 ounces of feed by weight. If each of our 10 chickens eats 6 ounces of food per day they will consume 60 ounces of feed per day. That would mean that for every 800 ounce bag, we could feed our chickens for about 13 days.
It is important to remember each flock size will vary from 1-100 birds and some of you may be asking yourself "How did DIY come up with those numbers?" Because each flock will vary so much in size it is important we share with you how to calculate initial feeding estimates. As you feed your flock over time, you will naturally make adjustments based on their eating patterns.
How do I calculate ounces per bag? By weight every pound contains 16 ounces so to calculate the weight in ounces you take your bag weight in pounds and multiply it by 16 ounces per pound (50lbs x 16 ounces/lb. = 800 ounces).
How do I calculate daily feed consumption for my chickens? For our calculation we are figuring the highest average of daily feed eaten which is about 6 ounces. Each chicken will consume about 6 ounces each day. To calculate how much each chicken will consume you take the number of chickens in your flock, multiply it by 6 ounces per day (10 ounces x 6 ounces/day = 60 ounces).
How do I calculate how long a 50lb beg will feed my chickens? From our previous calculations we know each bag contains 800 ounces and each chicken needs 6 ounces of feed each day. To find out how long a bag of feed will last calculate 800 ounces, divided by 6 ounces per day, multiplied by the number of chickens in our flock (800 ounces / 6 ounces/day x 10 chickens = 13.33 days). To find out how many bags a year you will need simply divide the number of days per year with the number of days each beg lasts (365 days / 13.33 days = 27.38 bags/year).
Feeding and watering is made very simple when you use self dispensing feeders and watering containers. Depending on your preference, you can either purchase these containers or even make your own feeders. These containers can be found at any agriculture store and range in price by size. For a standard 3 gallon by volume metal feeder and watering container you could expect pricing to range from $20-$24 depending on brand and purchase location.
Next on out check list is the type of nesting boxes and type of chicken coops. We will address each of these items in more detail in a few moments, however each one of these items is accessed a value depending on how basic or luxurious your chickens space becomes. Please visit our article "how to build a chicken coop" as we lay out expense based on the type of chicken coop you construct. But to get your creative juices flowing here are some things to consider. One roll of 4ft x 48ft chicken wire is about $36 and can be found at any hardware store like Lowes and Home Depot. You may also try Lawn & Garden departments at retail stores like Target and Wal-Mart. Also at Lowes or your local hardware store you can find lumber products and prices may vary by location. A 2 x 4 from Lowes is currently $2.99 per board, a sheet of 4 x 8 - 3/8 inch plywood is $10.48, standard gate hinges $2.58 each and the chicken coop latches are $0.78 each.
In 1900, hen's averaged just 83 eggs per year but through breeding can now be expected to lay up to 300 eggs per year. On average Americans eat about 254 eggs per year, nearly 5 eggs per week. Not all eggs are consumed directly, many products like pasta, bread and bagels call for eggs as a main ingredient. That means on average one hen per person in the family would give you enough eggs to enjoy every day.
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