[Bodger]

Just how much did you pay for those chickens of yours ?

[Vember]

Not a penny all needed a loveing home


Oh forgot Goose eggs £2 each, 3 due to hatch this week

[Wildeone]

Not a penny all needed a loveing home

same! chooks were free but the set up costs ie coop, run food meds feeders drinkers all came to around £250!  :shock:  (told hubby it was half that!)

[peggyprice]

So far - way, way more than it would have cost to buy a dozen free range eggs every week  

[Jellyhead]

:oops:

[kimT]

When we first got hens I think we paid £40 for four pure breeds three which have died now but we now have seven hens one is an original five that I have been given by friends and one which we hatched from some fertile eggs again they were given to us.

Sometimes I think it's a case of not what you know but who you know.

I will say that I have met some really lovely people through poultry forums sales and shows and I am always being offered hens and eggs and I just wish we had the space to say, yes please!

aaaahhh..............one day!

[Bodger]

Just about all my chickens have been given to me by fellow enthusiasts$ and thats why I've never sold a chicken in my life. I've always been pleased to give birds away and see one more chicken keeper join our ranks.
Having said that, in recent years, I've become aware of just how much money some people are paying for chickens and its very tempting to jump on the band wagon and cash in on the boom. It could be a nice retirement fund for me in the future. The problem is that chickens are a little like the fashion industry and its knowing which breed of chicken is going to be demanding the big money a few years down the road. It seems to be the old fashioned traditional birds that people want at the moment.

[Slatz]

Ours cost £5 each for POL hybrids.

Cost of run, coop, feeders etc more than I want to admit.  Probably £250 ish.

Free range eggs £2.40 per dozen.  20p each

£250 divided by 20p =  1250 eggs.  
4 eggs per day, 300 ish days to payback

Get laying girls, you need to pay the rent.  And that is only your lodging costs, don't forget I'm feeding you too.


OK, I'll give you a discount for the entertainment you provide, as long as you stay out of the veggie patch.  I want those salad leaves, they aren't there as a treat for you.  

[Kiwi]

We didn't pay anything for ours, the lady gave them to us as a present!
I agree with what others are saying - it would be cheaper to buy eggs!! But the joy and fun keeping them, and the amazing taste and colour of the eggs outweighs any money we spend. I love my chooks  :oops:

[VM]

I'm new on the forum. Just preparing to get chickens with partner and friends at partner's allotment. He is building the chicken run as I write.

We're in Manchester - Slatz and Bodger - notice you are both not a million miles away from us. Wondered if you have any views or advice about hybrids versus pure breeds, good places to get them etc. I have looked at the list of suppliers on this site and emailed some of them.

Expecting chickens to be fun and interesting, but principally we are getting them for eggs, so good laying is the priority.

Leaning towards hybrids for that reason, but I'm wondering about a mix of hybrids with maybe a couple of pure breeds. My impression so far is that hybrids produce more eggs at first but that pure breeds might carry on laying consistently for longer. Is that right?

They will have a nice big run at the allotment and I think we've room comfortably for 10 chickens, but thought we'd start with 6. No cockerel as in the city and not planning to eat them, just the eggs.

Egg colour not big issue. Just want some nice-looking, good layers who will be happy in confined run rather than being free-range in a garden.

Pure breeds suggested to me have been Light Sussex and Silver Sussex. Hybrids suggested so far  : Warrens, Black Rocks. Love pics I've seen of Silver Sussex and of Speckeldy & Goldline hybrids.

Seem to have gone on a bit - just asking around wherever I can.

thanks and best wishes!

[VM]

I now notice that several people on this thread this morning are from vaguely this part of the world (though Yorkshire, I know, is a big place). Any suggestions about where I would find out about poultry shows to go to and meet people - around North West/North Wales/Cheshire/Staffodshire.

thanks again

p.s. and interesting to see what you've said about prices - they do seem to vary quite a bit from what I've seen on the web - some Light Sussex at around £18, which is probably more than we've got to spend at present.

what were the hybrids you paid £5 for, slatz?

[Vember]

Can't tell you about the show side of things but Chelford market on a Monday morning is good for buying

Welcome to the Hen House btw

[Bodger]

I've bought quite a few birds from Chelford and its a great place to visit if you know what you're doing or have a guide to go with you. There are however, quite a few characters there who will chew you up and spit you out.

Hybrids versus Pure breds ? Well if you only want them for laying ? Then the hybrids win hands down every time. But and its a big but, not that many of us want egg laying machines and so we indulge ourselves by having pure breeds. Some  of the pure breeds ( not all )  lay enough to keep the household supplied, look nice and individual and give us the rewarding feeling that we are helping to keep a particular breed going.

[peggyprice]

Just about all my chickens have been given to me by fellow enthusiasts$ and thats why I've never sold a chicken in my life. I've always been pleased to give birds away and see one more chicken keeper join our ranks.
Having said that, in recent years, I've become aware of just how much money some people are paying for chickens and its very tempting to jump on the band wagon and cash in on the boom. It could be a nice retirement fund for me in the future. The problem is that chickens are a little like the fashion industry and its knowing which breed of chicken is going to be demanding the big money a few years down the road. It seems to be the old fashioned traditional birds that people want at the moment.

For a more helpful reply than my earlier one:

In South Yorkshire, in the past month:

1 Warren (egg eater  :evil:  :evil: ) and 1 Black Rock hybrid:  a fiver each from the local city farm
1 Laced Wyandotte (RIP  :cry: ) and 1 Welsummer: £15 from the local Rare Breeds Centre, run by our City Council as (I think) a charitable trust
1 Amber hybrid: £8 and 1 Bluebelle hybrid £10 from a reputable breeder, though it turned out he hadn't bred them himself as I'd expected and I probably paid more than really I needed to because I was keen to replace Princess quickly.

If you're looking at it as a business proposition:  it's a growing market (see my comments on another thread  : :roll:  ), it's the urban market that is most likely to grow quickest and pay most (we don't know no better  :?   ), therefore I'd have thought a good combination of pretty looks, reasonable but not over productive laying, and nice friendly non-flighty nature is likely to be a winner.

Plus some good marketing  

[Slatz]

I'm still new at this malarkey so I'm reluctant to give advice.  I can though describe what we did.

Built a run and hen house, got in touch with a local farmer (I can dig out his number if you want it, he's based just outside Croston, back end of Leyland, maybe a bit far to travel for you)  His is a no nonsense hybrid production set up, you can any colour you like, so long as it's brown.  We got the last two none browns of his current batch.  Whilst being very Lancastrian and abrupt he did offer sound advice and clipped the wings for us, showing us how to do it so we are ready after the moult.  He also stocks all the feed, bedding etc if you need it.  They were £5 each at POL which seemed OK to us and they've settled in great.

Economically it doesn't really make sense but they are great fun and are helping our son (6 years old) to understand that not everything comes from the supermarket in a plastic bag.