Can i afford to keep poultry?

  • 21 Replies
  • 7805 Views
*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« on: October 11, 2006, 08:14 »
just wondering how much you have to pay out in feed per month for you hens?  would love to have my own brood.  (nee to find somewhere to keep them first!! - am hoping when i get an allotment that i would be able to there)

so before i get my hopes up can some one tell me how much i should expect to pay out for them - i was planning on getting rescue birds as well and nursing them back to health if needed!

*

John

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Clogwyn Melyn, Gwynedd
  • 17113
    • Low Cost Living
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2006, 08:48 »
I did put some of my rambles about the costs of producing your own eggs in an article on The Poultry Pages -  I think you are very sensible to consider your costs before leaping in.

I think I had my account head on when I wrote it!
Check out our books - ideal presents

John and Val Harrison's Books
 

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2006, 08:51 »
i shall go and look there - thank you.

well,  with being unemployed at the moment - every single penny counts!

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2006, 08:53 »
hmm, it doesn't want to open for me...  keepscoming up with an error message...

do you have a direct link? sorry to be a pain

*

John

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Clogwyn Melyn, Gwynedd
  • 17113
    • Low Cost Living
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2006, 09:09 »
Sorry - there is a fault at the UK server centre, I've notified them. Please try it later when I hope they will have had a coffee, scratchd their bums and bothered to look at the support requests.

Having pre-paid an annual fee, I'm beginning to think I made a mistake in my supplier choice. I use two companies to host web sites and the US firm costs a quarter of the UK firm, offers many more tools and facilities, 24 hour service (with 10 minute response in the middle of the night for them)

Sorry - ranting a bit here. Should be back online shortly.

*

John

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Clogwyn Melyn, Gwynedd
  • 17113
    • Low Cost Living
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2006, 09:11 »
By the time I finished my rant they're online :)

Direct Link - Cost Producing Eggs

:)

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2006, 09:11 »
ok,  long as i haven't broken it!! or it's not just my computer being awkward.

i shall try again later.

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2006, 09:17 »
well it looks possible - all i need to do it get an allotment first (or convince mum to move house to somewhere with a bigger garden!! - think i might have to stick with the allotment option!!!

*

John

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Clogwyn Melyn, Gwynedd
  • 17113
    • Low Cost Living
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2006, 09:32 »
Having looked at your blog and how creative you are, I reckon you could build your own hen house and get the freshest eggs possible at a low cost.

Plus you could sell surplus eggs and with an allotment  you can easily reduce your food bills.

*

muntjac

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: near diss norfolk
  • 11971
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2006, 11:35 »
looking at your garden produce i reckon you could be telling us old hands a trick or 2 jenny .wot say you john hahahha

 incidently im in top suffolk so if you want to start with chickens let me know come spring next year and we can sort you out with some poults  welsummers and buff orpington bantams cheap .THE  best chickens in the world ,IMHO of course :wink:
still alive /............

*

hermon

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: Brecon, Wales
  • 539
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2006, 12:41 »
i have 10 ex battery hens they eat organic layers pellets which are nearly £10 a sack this lasts about 1 month depending on how much they are let out in the garden! the main cost is housing. look on ebay for houses or if you know someone who can make on use weld mesh not chicken wire as foxes bite through this.

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2006, 16:37 »
well i can't take all the credit for the garden alhtough i am planting more and more each year!

but the tomatoes, courgette and beans were originally classed as mum's but it turned into a joint effort in the end.

my step dad is very good with building things (he made a hug floor to ceiling book case/tv shelf/cupboards for my room) so i'm sure between us we could know something up.

Hermon - £10 a month in pellets for 10 hens - i'm sure i could manage that!

the only thing i may not manage is if any get ill and die or get killed by the fox - being a great animal lover i get very attached very easily!!

*

becky

  • Experienced Member
  • ***
  • Location: devon
  • 118
    • http://chickentopia.blogspot.com/
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2006, 16:55 »
Hi, we have 6 chooks, and I give them a mix of layers pellets and corn (2/3 pellets, 1/3 corn), each 25kg sack is £5.50, the 2 sacks will last at least 2 months if not more. We suppliment their food with kitchen scraps, veggies, rice, bread etc... and any insects i find on the plot, at the mo' lots of worms as the chooks are moulting and need the protien. The expense will be the housing, and that can be as expensive as you want, we paid £30, for an old shed that we converted, then probably £140 for the bits to make a really big run around it, a darn sight cheeper than an eglu!!! You can't afford not to have chooks!!!! At least they will pay their way.
Peas out!

*

GrannieAnnie

  • Grandmother of the Forums
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Location: Kent
  • 21104
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2006, 21:54 »
Chooks also like most of the weeds you would normally put on your compst heap, but don't give them any ragwort if you find any.  In fact, if you find any ragwort, get rid of it quickly.  It is bad for animals and can kill.  I think that goes for chooks as well as other animals.

Have you joined your local freecycle group yet?  You may get a 2nd hand shed for nothing on there, or look in the local paper too for 2nd hand and cheap.  We were lucky, because we already have our lovely goatshed that OH made for me when we first moved here which has a big run.

Hope you get what you want very soon.

*

jennyb

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Location: herts/essex border, uk
  • 699
  • Hiding in the Greenhouse
    • My Blog
Can i afford to keep poultry?
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2006, 08:14 »
i am a free cycle member - should really find some land first though - hoping the allotment will allow chooks - but need to get the allotment first!!

i tend to think faar to far in advance!



xx
Poultry Spice, Poultry Zest, Garlic, Apple Vinegar, Verm-X, Liquid Tonic etcc

Started by OpiumEater on The Hen House

17 Replies
9192 Views
Last post June 20, 2011, 09:28
by Kenilworth
xx
The joy of poultry

Started by kizza on The Hen House

5 Replies
3121 Views
Last post December 19, 2006, 11:42
by Huswyf
xx
Poultry ark

Started by Fluff on The Hen House

5 Replies
3450 Views
Last post August 25, 2008, 20:04
by Andy J
xx
Poultry Spice

Started by Craig69 on The Hen House

7 Replies
2162 Views
Last post June 02, 2010, 13:15
by joyfull
 

Page created in 0.216 seconds with 38 queries.

Powered by SMFPacks Social Login Mod
Powered by SMFPacks SEO Pro Mod |