[stompy]

Hi all,

Just wondered how much you spend anually on your chooks once your fully set up.

Feed/bedding/Other ancillarys/vets bills/treats (etc)

Not a breakdown of individual items just an anual general lump sum.

I can put aside the start up costs but the anual outlay will be a rough constant.
I need some information to get the OH to possibly release the funds. 

[Lewjam]

For three hens i spend around £60 or £70 per year. 

Note that i don’t use Vets and considered the big pot of wormer i got when i set up as part of the set up costs. (as it will last me about 5 years!)

I also use an Eglu so don’t get through much bedding as a bit of newspaper and a sprinkle of sawdust replaced every morning keeps then nice and fresh.

[Casey76]

Hmm... for my flock of 12 (mixed bantams and LF) I use about 25kg of food every two weeks... so that's 300€ in food per year (based up on 11.50€ per 25kg)

Bedding, I use about 3 bales of shavings @ 9€ a bals = 27€

Wormer is approximately 10€ a year.

So far (in 3 years) I haven't had any vet bills, but I have bought things like peroxide, iodine, saline and swabs.

I don't count treats, as they get veg peelings from the kitchen (this is not illegal in France) on a daily basis.

[stompy]

337€ a year  

Thats about £300 a year?    

Is that right?

Actually looking at Lewjam's post that will be about right 

Seems alot of money?

[shetan]

£900........

but we do have 30 chooks....our food costs around £9 a bag and we get through a little more than a bag a week. plus the cost of going to get it as we go to coalville for it which is about £60.

we also use coarse wood shavings which costs £8.50 a bag and we go through 1 every 2 weeks. this increases to 1 a week in winter so the chooks have extra litter to keep them warm. i buy that every time i'm at the cattle market.

this doesn't include the odd treat of green veg, wormer and vet costs.

[stompy]

Like i said, it seems like alot of money! 

[rachelr]

£900 divided by 30 equals £30 per chicken per year. If you sold their eggs for £2 a dozen and they have 204 ish(making easy numbers) a year then you would get back £34.

From my point of view i did get a lot more per year from my chicks til they got the hump and stopped laying lol. Its not about the money its about the taste and the difference of having your own eggs. not just to eat eau natural but in cakes and yorkshires etc.

The cost of vets is mostly down to poor management of the area. for instance i brought in rescue hens and now mine have lice and wont lay. I think that was self induced  (by m not the hens lol)and should not be counted as part of the cost of looking after hens.

[stompy]

Im not thinking of making any profit but i do feel that £300 a year for fresh eggs is a little much.

My fresh veg doesn't cost anything near that!

Saying that though i will only have 3 to 4 hens!

[rachelr]

so you would only be costing 30 per hen per year (120 for 4). I must say i have never really worked it out for my lot. I do find this interesting an i might work it out for next year I have twenty birds and usually the egg sales of the the excess covers their feed each week. So i only have to cover bedding and mite/lice/worm control so that is a lot cheaper. i get feed for 7.20 for 25kg so i am lucky.

I am on a very low income and it does not seem too bad to cover so maybe the cost is not as bad as others feel.

[Sassy]

It's difficult to put a price on knowing where your food comes from and how the livestock have been treated. But the figures here seem to add up to at least break even. The cost of food does vary on whether you wish to feed organic or 'ordinary' feed and this may account for large, apparent, differences.

I think most owners would admit to getting alot more from their chickens than eggs and maybe meat

[Lewjam]

I wouldn’t say that keeping back yard hens is a way to save money though to be honest stompy.

I generally bought a box of 6 eggs a week which cost me around 1.60 at supermarket prices.  So about £80 a year.

Three hens give me at least that many eggs, plus spares which i use to bribe neighbours to look after them while im away at weekends now and then.  When I include the cost of the coop and other bits and bobs, even only spending about £70 on feed and bedding a year I will never recoop my loss’s.

The same could be said for any investment, its what else you get out of them.

They are just nice to have around though, which adds to the "benefit" if you will, much like paying £500 or more a year in feed for a Dog.  You get very little back but the occasional cute look and a bit of company!

You need to decide if you would actually want chickens around, and also how much having fresh eggs available means to you.  I find mine are much tastier then shop bought, but if you have access to free range eggs from another source it would be cheaper to buy them!

When you think about it, my costs are about £70, thats still nearly £25 a bird/year.

Bargain if you ask me!!

[Casey76]

They are just nice to have around though, which adds to the "benefit" if you will, much like paying £500 or more a year in feed for a Dog.  

I daren't add up how much it costs me to feed my two cats lol!

OK, I just did... about 600€ in sachets alone, but that's without the biscuits/kibble factored in.

My horse costs me 300€ every three months for supplements for his arthritis alone.

Moral of this story... don't add it up lol!

[evie2]

Our 5 LF, 7 Sabelpoots and 2 tiny Dutch Bantams probably will cost around £150 for the year.  The 4 cats much more and the snake about £50.  Add it all together and it's still less than Ali so I'm happy 

[viettaclark]

I started with 3 and now have 6. Ignoring set-up costs my annual running costs are about £250 a year (about £40 a bird) I sell eggs to the value of £72+ a year and save £144 a year on my own delicious egg consumption. So I nearly cover my running costs but if you factor in the Eglu, wire, wood, feeders etc. I would never recoup that!!!
I buy wormer, Poultry Spice, Diatom and garlic powder in bulk and still have plenty after 3 years and I don't do vets.
The expensive bits are treats....I buy bulk sunflower seeds, corn and meal worms for Winter.
Also the pellets have gone up from £7.99 to £10 this year!!!

[Nicki85]

Hmm, My four get through a bag of food at £8 about once every two month, small bag of corn every three months at £5 and then bedding every 2-3months at £8....  Also have a general vit min supplement at £5 which lasts six months...

So looking at about £120 per year for four - £30 per year for one

I haven't included treats as they come from the allotment...  Set up costs were alot though probably looking at £400- £500 easily with electric fencing etc. etc.