If you have a yard, you can have 6 chickens that will provide your family as much as 1/2 dozen eggs a day for your family. This gives you enough for your family and enough to share a few with neighbors and friends. Beginners, raising chickens in your backyard is totally doable and you will love raising chickens for eggs that taste amazing.
If you are like us, you shudder to think of the unhealthy conditions many commercial chicken operations raise their chickens to bring you a far less egg quality.
My grandparents on both sides of my family kept laying chickens. It was an enriching part of our childhood whenever we visited grandmother, to collect the eggs every morning. It was a wholesome tradition and created many fond memories.
SPRING CHICKS – Raising Chickens For Eggs, Beginners Tips
The backyard eggs were so fresh and tasty, we certainly got spoiled by the vastly different quality and taste. The yolks were firm and deep orange (rather than the limp, light yellow you get at the store). The taste was so good Grandma would make egg sandwiches for lunch. I remember my Grandma making lemon meringue pie which uses egg whites to whip up the fluffy meringue topping. I wouldn’t even want to do meringue with store bought. My point being that with store bought eggs, the enjoyment level of eating them just does not compare with raising chickens for eggs.
Plus imagine the fun for the children and grand children in your family on Easter! This is the good-old fashioned easter every child dreams of, unless of course, you make it a reality with your 6 laying hens!
Benefits of Raising Chickens For Eggs:
- Lower Your food bill
- Become less dependent on grocery-bought food, more self-sufficient
- Fresh, healthy eggs
- Natural, organic, and humane (cruelty-free)
- Superior taste and quality
- Free from growth hormones
- Great experience for children
How To Grow Six Egg Laying Chicks To Feed Your Family
There is initially a cost to start up your little mini chicken raising beginners operation. You have to either make a chicken coop for approximately $100 or you can get a pre-fab coop at Tractor Supply for $230. That is what we just did. But this is a one time cost, which is so worth it. If you are on a tight budget you can look up how to build your own coop on youtube or google.
The chickens themselves we bought for about $3 each little chick. That is not too bad considering your dozen chicks will lay you about 4000 eggs in their 2-3 productive years of laying.
The next raising chickens for eggs expense, initially would be your baby chick nursery. For several weeks when they are small they require a warm “nest.” Their envirnment needs to be 95 degrees. Again, here is a low-budget version of the chick nursery and the more “fancy” one. The old-style, low budget version would be a large card board box, but this can be a bit more “messy,” since you will be keeping your chicks indoors at first. The “fancy” version will be a metal trough that you can get at Tractor Supply. We got one that is more than sufficient for $100. But we can use this piece of equipment for multiple purposes on our homestead, and keep it for a lifetime.
That concludes the bulk of the initial out lay of costs for raising chickens in your backyard. You have your “Quick & Easy Version” which is what we are doing. And then you have the “Hill-Billy Version” which is cheaper but messier and takes some build-it-yourself skills.
So here is a list of what you will need and the cost for each version:
QUICK & EASY Chicken Raising Beginners Total Cost $388
- Galvanized Stock Tank ( chick nursery) $100
- Pre-fab Chicken Coop $230
- 50 lb bag of chicken starter feed $16
- Heat Lamp $ 9
- Sack of Wood Shavings $ 6
- Clamp Light $11
- Chick Feeder $3
- Chick Water Feeder $8
- Pro-biotics and electrolytes $5
“HILL BILLY” Chicken Raising Beginners Total $158
Same as above, but you use a cardboard box in place of the Galvanized Stock Tank and you make a home-made chicken coop for $100.
The hill-billy version is a bit more “country” and a lot more cheap. I would suggest the Quick & Easy Method for suburban living, since the chicken coop will be more “aesthetic” (suburbia-looking) and accepted by your neighbors and city folk. Also, if you have an upscale type home with a pretty interior, then your Galvanized Stock Tank will make a delightfully easy and clean set up for keeping the little indoors until they are ready to transfer outside. The Hill-Billy method is for the thrifty country folk who have the use of barns, out-buildings or authentic, rustic log home style living. That is a mere opinion of my own, however. You are at liberty to incorporate and accommodate your own style and budget.
In our neck of the woods it is chicken time! Chicks are sold this time of the year at farmer co-ops, hardware stores and Tractor Supply. Starting before easter and lasting until all the chicks are sold (which isn’t long). So if you are going to do it, do it pronto. If you are running a little late chicks can also be ordered on line.
I hope these raising chickens beginners tips help you get an idea of what you will need to get a chicken coop set up in your own backyard and get your chickens settled in and on their way to egg laying. So what do you think? Will you be raising chickens for eggs this year?
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