Wanted Free or Cheap: has invaded. Every time I browse through the sell groups on Facebook I see it. Now there are times when I would put cheap. I'm not one to spend more then I have to. The problem is that people are looking for animals for free or cheap.
Its a pet peeve of mine. It takes about one bag of feed to raise a hen to laying age. Depending on the brand you are spending from $12-$20. So no laying hens are not cheap. Then you add the time you have put into taking care of them. For me that is about 20 minutes a day. Caring for chicks takes more time, if you want friendly hens you must spend time with them. I'm not going to count those hours. So in three day's time I have put in an hour for my 14 birds. In a week I've worked at least 2 hours. An expert makes $20/hour. Every week I should be paid about $40. It takes 20 weeks to raise a hen to laying age. That means in the time it took me to raise the hen to laying age I should have been paid $800. We still haven't figured in the cost of water or housing, but we'll stop here. So if we take the $12 in feed and divide the $800 by 14 birds($57.14) each bird is worth $69.14. Most
So no I won't give you a laying hen for cheap or free.
A little hard work goes a long way. Chicks are worth about $3 each. Put in the hard work your self and raise your own laying hens.
Now don't get me wrong. If I see a need I'm the first to want to help someone. I'm not saying that you shouldn't give charity. Help out a new chicken lover and help them hatch their own chicks!
Elizabeth~
