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<blockquote data-quote="KDM" data-source="post: 367093" data-attributes="member: 314"><p>Everyone should have a few hens in the backyard IMO.&nbsp; It's stupid easy to build a mobile coop out of free pallet wood and a couple yards of chicken wire.&nbsp; Move the thing every couple days and the droppings won't build up enough to smell or draw flies.&nbsp; Four hens will eat about a cup of food per day combined.&nbsp; A 50 lb bag would probably last a bit more than a month if you fed nothing but store bought food.&nbsp; With four hens, depending on breed, but say a leghorn or isa brown, you could count on an average of just over 3 eggs a day.&nbsp; A bag of feed is around 18 bucks.&nbsp; In winter, newspaper on the bottom of the coop covered with an old blanket will keep them warm enough if you add a standard lightbulb to keep them laying thought winter and it takes about 20 seconds to clean up and most of the time that's free as well with junk mail.&nbsp; To cut food costs a guy can buy a bag of cracked corn for 8 bucks and double the time between feed purchases.&nbsp; Essentially you can look at 25 bucks worth of feed for 2 months.&nbsp; Longer if you feed your chickens your table scraps.&nbsp; They will eat EVERYTHING, including pick the bones clean.&nbsp; In spring, summer, and fall you will cut your feed costs in about half as they will eat the grass and bugs they find on the lawn.&nbsp; You will find that you can't eat all the eggs you will be getting so if you sell them to neighbors that cuts costs as well.&nbsp; There are plenty of ways to spend more money on chickens, but at that point they are more pets than livestock.&nbsp; Just some thoughts....</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="KDM, post: 367093, member: 314"] Everyone should have a few hens in the backyard IMO. It's stupid easy to build a mobile coop out of free pallet wood and a couple yards of chicken wire. Move the thing every couple days and the droppings won't build up enough to smell or draw flies. Four hens will eat about a cup of food per day combined. A 50 lb bag would probably last a bit more than a month if you fed nothing but store bought food. With four hens, depending on breed, but say a leghorn or isa brown, you could count on an average of just over 3 eggs a day. A bag of feed is around 18 bucks. In winter, newspaper on the bottom of the coop covered with an old blanket will keep them warm enough if you add a standard lightbulb to keep them laying thought winter and it takes about 20 seconds to clean up and most of the time that's free as well with junk mail. To cut food costs a guy can buy a bag of cracked corn for 8 bucks and double the time between feed purchases. Essentially you can look at 25 bucks worth of feed for 2 months. Longer if you feed your chickens your table scraps. They will eat EVERYTHING, including pick the bones clean. In spring, summer, and fall you will cut your feed costs in about half as they will eat the grass and bugs they find on the lawn. You will find that you can't eat all the eggs you will be getting so if you sell them to neighbors that cuts costs as well. There are plenty of ways to spend more money on chickens, but at that point they are more pets than livestock. Just some thoughts.... [/QUOTE]

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