Noteworthy News

[The Grand Nudger]

What's the "1k" in your equation there? Eggs?

Yeah, a quality layer on good feed in a non factory setting is gonna lay about 250 eggs a year.  4 chickens gets a family of four an egg each a day from early spring to late summer.  Then they molt...and lay very infrequently through the low light months.  You can average it out, and at peak they might lay every 16 hrs, but 250 is a good number to aim for if you want to make the economics of it even close to working.  As an occupation...closer to 300 on average..you force heat, force molt, add alot of supplemental lighting, offset the feed cost with forage, reduce the operating expenses by producing your own layers, and turn your waste into a marketable product with live birds and fresh poultry (which all goes back to feed).  If you do everything right and nature doesn't intervene too harshly, you can sell an egg for 47c...that's ten over average retail out here, and produce it for 14c - a little better than half under average retail.  

Chickens are, imo, relatively cheap pets for people inclined to keep them as pets, and who can.  You get something out of feeding them.  So they're better than a mutt - maybe not better than a cat, certainly not as good as breeding dogs.  A solution to our economy presents itself - just as serious as the one offered.  You buy stuff to make trash to feed the rats.  Feed the rats to the cats.  Feed the cats to the children.  Breed dogs for money.....and use the money to buy eggs.