I do not understand the mathematics behind the dilemma. I’m assuming only the firts chicks cost money, because down the line they will breed.
But feeding them, housing them - vitamins and doctoring costs a lot of money.
So anyone with couple or more chickens - how much does it cost to have them on the table? And realistically how many eggs do you get?
It’s simply not economical to raise chickens. It’s like brewing beer: very labor-intensive, expensive, and heart breaking when they die, which they are very good at. It’s not a hobby to save money, despite what people tell you. The eggs are great though.
They’re also extremely sweet creatures when hand raised. They’ll come running and want to be picked up and everything. Eating them or having them die is awful.
Very true. A fox got ours and it was really traumatic. They all had names and were so sweet.
In my very limited experience that chickens can be really chicken brained. I saw owners showing off their permanent scars when a chicken had a random idea to pick at them… I bet it is depends on the breed and the owner also.
It sounds like a hobby with big benefits. You get meat and eggs hhat you know where they come from.
Probably a way lot healthier than anything from even organic food.
Oh totally. But not economical.
I mean, killing, plucking, and gutting a chicken is a huge pita. Depending on where you live, a few chickens for eggs can be done pretty cheaply. Not as easy or cheap as buying eggs.
Yeah I haven’t killed anything that wasn’t a bug - so that would.be definitely challenging part.
Dude fresh eggs are so good, I don’t have chickens but my wife’s coworker has some and we get a dozen eggs every so often. The best store bought eggs are a pale comparison. Like a good store egg has a nice yellow orange yolk but the orange yolk of healthy home hens is just amazing
To me, these seem like marginal benefits. If knowing where your food comes from is important to you for some reason, by all means, carry on.
However, every scientific discussion I’ve ever seen on organic food has found the same thing - there is no significant difference in nutritional value between certified organic food and nonorganic food. Of course, “certified” organic food is still industrially produced - just according to arcane regulations that make it more expensive. You could make a case that “organic in spirit” food is more nutrient dense in some way or other - but the lack of a real scientific definition of “organic in spirit” will make it harder to study, and I have not heard any scientific discussion of this. And improved health in people who eat organic foods are corrolational, and can be chalked up to these people caring more about their health in general, and being wealthier. All the most robust science on diet and health points to the same thing - the big factor is simply avoiding junk food. Getting farm fresh eggs is just a way to show off how much money you can throw away if you use them to make french toast covered in locally tapped mapel syrup.
All that to say, I really doubt you would find any noticeable health difference.
The benefit of keeping chickens and eating their eggs is that you get to enjoy the process. You get to watch your chicks grow into chickens, feel pride when you get the first batch of eggs, and enjoy eating those eggs (which I find are tastier than the cheapest ones at the store that I buy - though I think the taste is comparable to the fancy high price eggs my friends sometimes feed me). Do it to enjoy the process. But don’t do it under the illusion that you are saving money, saving the world, or saving your health.
Climate town did a great video about the green packaging - basically the meat industry. So yeah I’m not too keen on them, but a girl needs to eat.
It is much cheaper to brew beer than buy it in Australia. A carton of 24 is about $50, a $18 kit will make 60 cans worth.
Beer is cheaper than soda to make. The difference is home beer is not taxed.