Economics of DIY

So, by a vague guesstimate, what I'll end up spending on parts & materials for the chicken coop and run will exceed what I'd spend on a ready-built coop/run currently on sale.

Except... I looked at that coop.  It's tiny.  And the included run is maybe 10 square feet.  The run I'm planning is more like 500 square feet.

So, startup costs for the DIY approach are modestly higher, but the chickens will have vastly more spacious accommodations.

And, the whole DIY eggs thing, as opposed to just buying eggs in the grocery store?  The usual justification is that the eggs are far fresher and come from birds that have been running around eating bugs and weeds - hence eggs with more flavor to them.

Except... I recently saw a reference to an economic forecast that has commercial eggs heading for $1/egg.  In that case, assuming typical production from half a dozen hens, and assuming further that we actually eat all those eggs in place of store-boughten protein and that feed costs don't get out of hand (largely homegrown feed should help here), well, it doesn't take all that long to cover the startup costs.

And the victory garden?  That was meant to be basically a hobby, but last time I went to Kroger I thought I saw bell peppers priced at $1.  Being unclear as to whether that was per pound or per each, I just checked: current price (for anything other than green) is over $1 each.  Yikes!

At this rate, I may have to go beyond LARPing as a farmer and start taking it seriously.

Comments

[Rob]

I think your own eggs are better than the store bought, just because it's so easy and that are yours!
FWIW the last time I figured it out from the day I decided I wanted my own fresh egg it was 7 months before I got one... I did mail order chicks rather than buying laying hens..

Have you heard of the chicken moat? Worth looking up... it was invented by Gene GeRue way back when...

[Eric Wilner]

The chicken moat sounds like a good idea, but wouldn't be a good fit for here & now - the victory garden is way down in the Annex, and at current prices the cost of fencing it in - never mind double-fencing! - would be prohibitive. (~1500 foot perimeter - yikes!)

We got the pullets locally; there are farm-supply stores that sell them, and it seemed a better approach than mail-order, minimum 10 chicks, all one breed, shipped to the post office where I'd have to pick them up (especially since the kinda-nearby post office isn't the one that handles our ZIP code). There's also a poultry breeder not too far away, but Tractor Supply was convenient and had a nice assortment at the time.

[Rob]

0600 on Sunday morning many years ago I got a call from the Solway Post office (2 counties away) that my chicks had came in (I could hear them in the background), I was on my way! This was exciting stuff :-)