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I am not poor, but did recently raise chickens for about a year, and did the math on how they fared as an investment. I would disagree they are "easy and inexp

I am not poor, but did recently raise chickens for about a year, and did the math on how they fared as an investment. I would disagree they are "easy and inexpensive", though in a 3rd world setting with some luck it may vary. Here's a rough summary from my experience: -1 x Coop (self-made from scavenged wood, home store bought wood, wire, and hinges) ~$400 -5 x laying chickens ~$100 (Chicks are cheaper, but you pay to feed them for N months before they lay, and they need special care. Even then, some died or got sick and quit laying) So let's call it a $500 initial investment. Mine laid roughly 12 eggs a week. Near me, we pay $5 for a dozen farm-fresh eggs. So it would take ~100 weeks to pay off my investment, not taking into account the ~20/mo for feed, bedding(hay), wormer, and time spent fooling with them. Time-wise, in addition to building the coop, etc. I had to let them in/out daily and feed and water them. They were fun. I like fresh eggs and I'll probably do it again sometime. But a good investment they were not.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
return0 10y ago
so most of your cost was the coop. You could just put any old fence in a corner of your garden and you'd be fine. And you can feed them all the leftovers of the day.
- shireboy 10y ago
  Then the raccoons and cats would get them and I'd never make my money back.
mod 10y ago
I think this is way out of line. (I also keep chickens, though not with the tractor I'm about to list): Here's a $300 chicken tractor, complete package: https://www.aosom.com/pawhut-96-wooden-backyard-hen-house-chicken-coop.html https://www.aosom.com/pawhut-96-wooden-backyard-hen-house-ch... Depending on your situation, you might not need much of a coop. I would expect you could get away with $100 in supplies, in the US--not using scavenged wood--if you didn't need an enclosure etc, and just a small coop with nesting boxes. Chicks are $2 and less, so it seems absurd to pay $20 for a laying hen. In my area I think hens are worth about $6-$8. Your 12 eggs/week (for 5 hens) was a bit low, but of course that can vary greatly by variety. Many hens can lay for 4-5 years, though, and slow down as they go. I'd expect near the end you'd get 12/week. FWIW I had 9 chickens and was getting 3doz+/week. If it was winter, you might have needed a light in the coop to extend 'daylight' hours. They lay more slowly in the winter. My feed runs about $12/month in the winter, $3/month right now. I seriously can't see how you could feed 5 chickens $20/month worth of feed. Around here 50lb bags of layer pellets go for $10-$12. Plus I throw them scraps from the table, which would be waste anyway. I bought one thing of straw that is going to last about 2 years for $12 at TSC. I don't count my time--and actually, these days my six year old does nearly all of the work to take care of the chickens (releasing, feeding, locking up at night). The straw need not be purchased, though--plenty of substitutes could be had for free or cheap. Shredded newspaper would probably work. For your $500 + $20/month I think you should have been able to handle about 15-20 hens and therefore triple your production, or make your money back in about 30 weeks. Even at 100 weeks, it's not a bad investment, IMO, given that it just generates money forever after that.
- IkmoIkmo 10y ago
  Yeah thats pretty silly, 100 week break even means a roughly 50% annual ROI for a low skill venture. That's an absolutely killer return in general. And as you say, it's pessimistic. More sensibly it'd be break even in 25 weeks. Not a bad deal in countries where salaries are low, such that time has a low opportunity cost.
- shireboy 10y ago
  Re selling chickens, that means a rooster, who when I had one ate a ton (and laid not one egg ;). Then the hens don't always get "broody", so you buy an incubator...shots for the chicks... I'm sure in 3rd world they make it work, but the cost is non-0. I have no doubt my coop was over engineered and way more expensive than it should be.(I'm a software developer ;) The biggest cost was wire, and also includes wire fence for a run, feeder/waterer hay bedding (we changed every week to keep down disease!?), etc. I'm sure there were other wastes in my operation that could have made things more efficient. But learning those things takes time, money, and effort too. I'm sure if my life depended on it it would be different.
  - mod 10y ago
    I'm a developer, too! I probably have a smaller coop than you. In truth, mine was already on the property, but I've looked at a lot of them. I dislike the one I have and want to rebuild it. Someday. I'm also blessed with a small creek for watering them, and they have plenty of room to range and therefore mostly feed themselves. I chose breeds that are known to be broody, and I typically have at least one broody hen at all times. Right now, I have two. I'm not letting them hatch anything out, though. In truth it seems to be just two particular hens that get broody off and on, so perhaps I was just lucky. I'm fairly new to this game, myself.
learc83 10y ago
The article mentions that they make most of their money by raising and selling the chickens, not selling eggs. If you could sell your chickens for $5 a piece, as is common in West Africa, you could easily make a profit. Not to mention $400 for a chicken coop is on the expensive side. You can buy a ready made 4 chicken coop for less than $300, and a friend of mine built a fairly sizeable coop for $200.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

return0 10y ago

so most of your cost was the coop. You could just put any old fence in a corner of your garden and you'd be fine. And you can feed them all the leftovers of the day.

shireboy 10y ago
Then the raccoons and cats would get them and I'd never make my money back.

mod 10y ago

I think this is way out of line. (I also keep chickens, though not with the tractor I'm about to list): Here's a $300 chicken tractor, complete package: https://www.aosom.com/pawhut-96-wooden-backyard-hen-house-chicken-coop.html https://www.aosom.com/pawhut-96-wooden-backyard-hen-house-ch... Depending on your situation, you might not need much of a coop. I would expect you could get away with $100 in supplies, in the US--not using scavenged wood--if you didn't need an enclosure etc, and just a small coop with nesting boxes. Chicks are $2 and less, so it seems absurd to pay $20 for a laying hen. In my area I think hens are worth about $6-$8. Your 12 eggs/week (for 5 hens) was a bit low, but of course that can vary greatly by variety. Many hens can lay for 4-5 years, though, and slow down as they go. I'd expect near the end you'd get 12/week. FWIW I had 9 chickens and was getting 3doz+/week. If it was winter, you might have needed a light in the coop to extend 'daylight' hours. They lay more slowly in the winter. My feed runs about $12/month in the winter, $3/month right now. I seriously can't see how you could feed 5 chickens $20/month worth of feed. Around here 50lb bags of layer pellets go for $10-$12. Plus I throw them scraps from the table, which would be waste anyway. I bought one thing of straw that is going to last about 2 years for $12 at TSC. I don't count my time--and actually, these days my six year old does nearly all of the work to take care of the chickens (releasing, feeding, locking up at night). The straw need not be purchased, though--plenty of substitutes could be had for free or cheap. Shredded newspaper would probably work. For your $500 + $20/month I think you should have been able to handle about 15-20 hens and therefore triple your production, or make your money back in about 30 weeks. Even at 100 weeks, it's not a bad investment, IMO, given that it just generates money forever after that.

IkmoIkmo 10y ago
Yeah thats pretty silly, 100 week break even means a roughly 50% annual ROI for a low skill venture. That's an absolutely killer return in general. And as you say, it's pessimistic. More sensibly it'd be break even in 25 weeks. Not a bad deal in countries where salaries are low, such that time has a low opportunity cost.
shireboy 10y ago
Re selling chickens, that means a rooster, who when I had one ate a ton (and laid not one egg ;). Then the hens don't always get "broody", so you buy an incubator...shots for the chicks... I'm sure in 3rd world they make it work, but the cost is non-0. I have no doubt my coop was over engineered and way more expensive than it should be.(I'm a software developer ;) The biggest cost was wire, and also includes wire fence for a run, feeder/waterer hay bedding (we changed every week to keep down disease!?), etc. I'm sure there were other wastes in my operation that could have made things more efficient. But learning those things takes time, money, and effort too. I'm sure if my life depended on it it would be different.
- mod 10y ago
  I'm a developer, too! I probably have a smaller coop than you. In truth, mine was already on the property, but I've looked at a lot of them. I dislike the one I have and want to rebuild it. Someday. I'm also blessed with a small creek for watering them, and they have plenty of room to range and therefore mostly feed themselves. I chose breeds that are known to be broody, and I typically have at least one broody hen at all times. Right now, I have two. I'm not letting them hatch anything out, though. In truth it seems to be just two particular hens that get broody off and on, so perhaps I was just lucky. I'm fairly new to this game, myself.

learc83 10y ago

The article mentions that they make most of their money by raising and selling the chickens, not selling eggs. If you could sell your chickens for $5 a piece, as is common in West Africa, you could easily make a profit. Not to mention $400 for a chicken coop is on the expensive side. You can buy a ready made 4 chicken coop for less than $300, and a friend of mine built a fairly sizeable coop for $200.