Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

Post by bigstrat2003 » Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

indoordin0saur wrote: post #486

redcobra762 wrote: post #436

I genuinely don't understand why the focus is on egg prices. Who out there is paying more than a total of $3-$5/month more in eggs? And no, even to the absolutely poorest among us, that's not a meaningful amount. Yes, egg prices, as a percentage are going up a lot, but as an absolute value? I can get a dozen eggs from Walmart right now for $5.46. That isn't, by any measurement, a lot of money more than I would have p…

When I was a growing teenager I would easily eat 6-12 eggs in a day.

Post by sethammons » Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

thijson wrote: post #629

AlexandrB wrote: post #429

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The dark truth about keeping chickens and many other poultry is that they hatch in an approximately 1:1 male:female ratio, but can't be kept in that ratio without severe conflict and stress. Thus, hatching chickens to keep for egg-laying requires killing most of the male chicks. So yes, you have to kill chickens to eat eggs.

We put the redundant roosters in the woods, let nature do the killing for us. They didn't last one night.

Post by alistairSH » Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 6:55 PM UTC

BobaFloutist wrote: post #640

alistairSH wrote: post #592

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Goats can be territorial, but I'm not aware of them having any particular inclination to guard chickens or livestock. Livestock guard dogs work better, but then you're dealing with a large dog that isn't a pet and isn't socialized like a house dog.

Can't your livestock guard dog also be a pet that's socialized like a house dog? Are the two mutually exclusive?

Post by nothercastle » Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC

whycome wrote: post #309

pjerem wrote: post #290

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I do own two chickens since maybe 6 months for random reasons. Before that I thought they were pretty "stupid"/"uninteresting" animals but I was really wrong. They are in fact very lovable little beings. They have interestingly complex relationships between them, they are very social and I do have a special bond with the first I got, especially because we hadn’t the necessary hardware to keep her hot enough for multi…

It’s not the egg industry that will lose out if more people have backyard hens. It’s the poultry industry and the eating general. More people will start to find eating intelligent emotional animals as abhorrent as eating dogs or cats.

Post by WillPostForFood » Thu, Feb 20, 2025, 6:58 PM UTC

trod1234 wrote: post #39

sepositus wrote: post #32

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We have 10 (backyard) chickens and spend about $40/mo in feed. We average about five eggs per day when they are laying, so let's say that's 150 eggs per month. That's $0.26/egg or $3.20 a dozen. But we have to factor in around 4 months of them not laying during the winter. So for laying months, that brings the feed price to around $60/mo or $4.80 a dozen. So yeah, at current prices, it's worth it for us. I also haven…

Out of curiosity why not grow your own feed? In many cases you can cycle the compost back in to the feed you grow (as fertilizer). Around here our eggs are averaging about $9 per 12 on the shelves, and you can't buy just 12, the only eggs on the shelf are the 18/24 packs so about $20-22 per pack, almost the same price as choice meat.