Egg prices have been driving people crazy for almost six months now. It has gotten to the point that many people are contemplating buying chickens this spring so that they have a ready source of eggs without the grocery store price. But is this really a good idea? I went to a trade show last week and the amount of companies jumping into the chicken supply market is almost double what it was last year. Now there is nothing new or innovative, everyone is just trying to convince you that their chicken waterer or feeder will sell better than the next guy. Waterers and feeders are not that important when it comes to raising chickens, yes you need to have them, but they don’t cost much no matter what brand you choose. 

For the price of a couple dozen eggs right now, you can buy a small feeder and waterer suitable for six chickens or so. With chickens laying one to three eggs per day, you do not need a lot unless you eat eggs everyday for breakfast or do a lot of baking. But where are your chickens going to lay those eggs? So now you need a chicken coop. Those cost anywhere from five hundred to five thousand dollars depending on how big you want it. You could buy a lot of eggs at $9.99 a dozen for that. Of course everyone says their chickens will be free range, but that is not practical. Sure you can let your chickens run around the back yard and the neighborhood dogs can come around for a free lunch. Dogs love chicken, look at the first couple ingredients on any dog food. 

Live in a good neighborhood where dogs don’t run, then you have coyotes. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they are not there. Also fox, raccoons, mink and weasels would just love to get to know your chickens. So now you need a fence, not to keep the chickens in, but to keep them safe from predators. Depending on how big your chicken yard will be figure on six hundred to twelve hundred dollars for fencing. So now you have a coop, chicken yard, feeder and waterer, where do you get the chicks? We haven’t done chicks at Monticello in almost twenty years, but I believe chicks can be ordered at both the Liberty and Callicoon (Agway) stores. There are also mail order companies where you can buy them direct but I caution you on this one. Some companies are good to work with, others are not. When we used to get chicks in, we would order them in lots of twenty-five so that they could keep each other warm. However this did produce crowding in shipping which ultimately lead to one or two of the chicks trampled to death by the time they got to the store. We were used to this, but general consumers would probably be horrified by this. But if they didn’t pack the birds so tight, they would get cold and all would be dead by the time they arrived. 

Later in the spring, I believe they still have the livestock auction just north of Honesdale on Route 191 also. And then there are local farms that might put up signs for chicks for sale. These would generally be the same farms that have the eggs for sale signs up right now. Lastly you could decide to hatch the chicks yourself. We have incubators that you can put fertilized eggs in to hatch the chicks out yourself. My parents thought it would be a good idea to do this once when I was seven years old. It was fun, but the chicks started hatching out at 2 a.m. and after hatching chirped almost fourteen hours straight. These days we only sell one or two incubators a year, generally to teachers who need a classroom project. 

The last big thing to think about before deciding to get chickens is do you want to go on vacation ever? Unlike a dog or cat that you can take to the kennel, someone has to be home everyday to feed and water the chickens. If you have friends or family nearby that you can rely on, great, but if not think twice about becoming a farmer. There is a reason there is not a lot of them anymore.