I do not understand the mathematics behind the dilemma. I’m assuming only the firts chicks cost money, because down the line they will breed.
But feeding them, housing them - vitamins and doctoring costs a lot of money.
So anyone with couple or more chickens - how much does it cost to have them on the table? And realistically how many eggs do you get?
My siblings have chickens, but I wouldn’t call them a money saver so much as a hobby. If anything the eggs are more useful for bartering/giving to friends, since even a family that eats a lot of eggs typically has trouble going through the eggs laid by a small flock. Take into account too that they’re not going to be laying as much or at all during the late autumn and winter months. So you’ll be drowning in eggs in the spring and summer, and then not really any. Historically people dealt with this by preserving eggs in lime (mineral, not fruit) water, but most people don’t bother today since you can get them at the store.
You may still need to buy chickens down the line, because sometimes an illness can go through a flock and knock all (or most of them) down without there really being much to do about it. Letting them just breed for too long without introducing new blood can also cause incest issues. The vitamins and feed aren’t really that expensive. You may be able to get a better deal at a local feed store than online or through a pet store.
Correct answer right here. They are a hobby, and can be quite an elaborate one depending on your location, space, local ordinances, and budget.
Cheap eggs are cool and meat is cool too if you can stand to kill them. But if you’re going into that for those reasons then you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Thank you for the answer!
As to preserving the eggs, I think just vinegar works as well no? Like Moe’s on the simpsons with the jar of pickled eggs.
Preserving in lime is just weird, like that ludafisk stuff. It is super caustic I wouldn’t want to eat any.
That only works for hard boiled eggs, lime water works for raw eggs. Allegedly they don’t taste off and can be used as normal eggs.