What is better - raise chickens for eggs or buy eggs?

Silver Leghorn chick

Have you ever wanted to raise chickens for eggs, meat or both? With the price of eggs these days, there might be more of an interest to do so. This is the time of year to start getting your baby chicks. There are various breeds available and you’d need to research what would be best for you. For example, do you want a docile breed, a breed just for laying eggs, a breed that does well in a more confined area versus free range, etc. Some of our local feed stores are selling them now and have descriptions of their breeds online.

We are on our fifth flock. We’ve had Golden Comets, Buff Orpingtons, another gold sex-linked breed, Ameraucanas, and now we have Silver Leghorns.

For first time chicken raisers, please keep in mind that most hens do not start laying eggs until 18-22 weeks of age (that’s about 5 months give or take.) Also, if you are worried about the price of eggs going up, keep in mind that chicken feed is also going up. A 40lb bag of organic, non-gmo chicken feed is now around $65.00!

However, you never know how having your own eggs will come in handy! You might just find yourself trading them in for a new jeep! This fun photo was taken at the Summit 4x4 Company in Prescott, Arizona.

Photo courtesy of the Summit 4x4 Company, Prescott, AZ. Owner Jesse handing me the keys!

Back to being serious. Before you buy baby chicks, make sure you get their brood station set up about 48 hours before because it needs to be a stable temperature of 95 degrees for them. You also want enough room that they can spread out to cool down if needed.

We use this digital thermometer to keep track of temperatures

Fill your station with 3 to 4 inches of absorbent wood shavings and you’ll have to remove wet shavings daily. Don’t use shavings like cedar because the odor could have long-term health effects on the chickens.

Hang a heat lamp about 20 inches (more or less) above the brooding area. Use a thermometer to monitor and make sure it is a consistent 95 degrees for the first week. Every week you will reduce the temperature by 5 degrees until it reaches a minimum of 55 degrees.

Temporary housing for chicks until they can go outside to the coop

Provide 18 – 22 hours of light for the first week. Then reduce light to 16 hours through the growing period or to the amount of light they will receive when they are 20 weeks of age.

Feeders should be low lying and as the chicks grow, they will need to be raised up higher to accommodate where their head is. We use wood blocks for this. Start the chicks off with a starter feed for the first 8 weeks and then transition them to a grower feed until they are about 18 weeks old, at which time they’ll need a layer feed from then on. They will also need some grits to help with digestion. Keep the feeders clean because they will poop in the feeders and waterers.

Keep clean water available at all times and low lying at first. The waterers will also need to be raised as the chicks grow. You can teach the chicks to drink by dipping their beaks into the water.

Keeping the chicks in the chicken coop for awhile to adjust before letting them go outside

You will eventually move them to a larger area. The feed stores have detailed information on raising and feeding chicks. Here is a Backyard Gardener article from our extension agent on the benefits of chickens for our gardens and much more: https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/poultry2014.html

Silver Leghorns getting used to roosting bars in the coop

A few other things to keep in mind before considering if you want to raise chickens or not are:

1. Chickens molt…what does that mean? Your chicken will become ugly and stop laying eggs for a period of time.

2. Chickens don’t lay as many eggs in the winter months.

3. The average lifespan of a chicken is 5-10 years but they stop laying around the age of 3 years.

4. Predators such as foxes, coyotes, neighbor’s dogs, raccoons and other critters will hunt your chickens.

5. Chickens will poop EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere so be prepared to clean their pen often or if they are free range be sure to check your step or look before you sit.

6. Chickens love to dig holes and destroy bedding around flowers in the yard, good luck keeping them from doing so.

7. Chickens can get medical issues just like any other animal.

Please visit me online at www.peasbeewithewe.com

You can also view the following:

https://www.facebook.com/PeasBeewithEwe

https://www.pinterest.com/peasbeewithewe