We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy.
I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.
I raise a small flock as well. I always joke that my eggs cost about $100/dozen. With the number of raccoons, foxes and hawks roaming near my property, I've had to invest a couple thousand of dollars in electric fencing, hawk netting and coop materials like hardware cloth or my chickens would quickly disappear.
But if you keep chickens, be sure to harden against rats. In my town, they're considering making it illegal to keep chickens because people are careless about chicken feed. All the additional easy-to-access food has caused the rat population to explode into a real problem.
We have a metal feeder that the hens have been trained to stand on to open.
We're also experimenting with fermenting their feed, which should stretch it about 20% further. For that I dump a cup of it out in the morning, so no issue with rats.
While it may be anecdotal, what you are sharing is really compelling, as feed in my (rural) area hasn't noticeably increased.
This is the gist of what I see in a lot of sectors - there's price seeking happening. I'm finding going to the local restaurant supply store, prices are still what I would expect for the things I buy. Those same items are 3x at the national brand grocery stores. That tells me it's not about supply and demand or you'd see price increases universally, rather than only at those stores that are gouging their customers to see if they can get away with it.
People have noticed the disconnect between restaurant prices and grocery store prices. I have no idea who is increasing prices more than their suppliers have increased prices.
"Grocery prices grew by 11.4 per cent year-over-year in January ... according to the latest data released by Statistics Canada."
"The latest inflation data indicated food purchased from restaurants rose 8.2 per cent in January compared with the same month last year — up half a percentage point from December."
"Restaurant prices are also elevated, but they have risen at a slower pace. The cost of food at restaurants and other vendors is up 5.8%, compared to food from grocery stores or supermarkets, which shot up nearly 10% from November 2021 to August 2022, Wells Fargo analysts noted in a report."
I would be interested in a breakdown of your savings vs. your expenses and labor time on chicken raising.
I just ran a very generous estimate and I would shocked if your savings at peak egg price are more than $4 per labor hour. To get to that number I assumed $5 per dozen at the grocery store, five chickens at your house, an enormous production and consumption of eggs, very cheap overhead, and only thirty minutes a day of chicken care and harvesting.
Few households can benefit from a $4 an hour second job. Great hobby if you're doing well, of course, but a really bad use of finite time for anybody else. Let alone how few people have the land.
Also worth considering is the taste difference. Having raised chickens and eaten the eggs, they taste worlds better than store bought. I found that intangible to be worth something in the economical calculation.
I have a flock of chickens and yes this is true, the eggs taste much better.
I assume this translates into increased nutritional quality. A partially free range diet with plenty of grass and insects and some good supplementation helps.
The security of a consistent supply is nice. Eggs are just there. Enough to share most of the year. No need to remember or pick them up at the store which is another (minor) effort that should be taken into account in comparing cost/effort.
The setup is a bit expensive. I find the whole thing entirely worth it though. If you do it right the eggs are night and day different from store eggs.
I only have 7 chickens and 3 ducks. I open the coop in the morning, takes 1-2 minutes. I collect eggs in the evening and close up coop, takes 2-3 minutes. Maybe add another 5 minutes for changing water or throwing some hay in coop. That’s a typical day, in the winter in the Midwest. Easier in summer and spring. Space wise, really don’t need much at all. A small backyard can support them easily.
Also, great sense of sastifaction, great job for my kids, and I like being just a tiny bit more self reliant.
I’m comfortable investing this amount of time, not sure I could use it more productively. Obviously this equation will be different for different folks but my point is barrier to entry is very low. It’s why poor people in Latin America grow chickens, easy and cheap to do and gets you eggs and meat.
Guess I’m reminded of a Simpson episode where the old grandpa is complaining someone stole his limited time from him and then says “never mind, I wasn’t going to do anything else with it anyways.”
Edit: I was reminded below of another benefit. They control pests and eat ticks.
I did this.
Automated the open/close of the door based on sunrise/sunset.
Large water container, with automated heat tape for cold weather.
Large food container built into the wall that I only fill monthly.
Automated heat tape in the egg box where they roll out, so they don't freeze.
Fan in the window that turns on when its hot inside the coop.
Automated light in the coop that turns on morning/evening.
You're grossly overestimating the time it takes to raise hens.
I also don't think anyone is doing it because they think they can compete on prices with an industrial farm that keeps all of the hens locked up in a 2x2 foot battery cage their entire lives.
My hens are happy, they forage for bugs all day long (creating those delicious, dark-yellow yolks high in omega-3s), and gladly consume all of my excess food waste which would otherwise go into a landfill.
Do you have problems with the smell and poop? We have a medium sized backyard, and I would like to get chickens by my wife isn't sure about the smell and poop ending up everywhere (we have a 3yo). Are there other birds that are better than chickens in this regard?
and not just table scraps, you can give them all kinds of stuff growing in the garden, even some weeds. or have some cabbage that didn't work out, give it to chickens etc.
sadly, there are so many HOAs that crack down on this kind of stuff and don't want people to be self sufficient.
I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.