If you are going to get backyard chickens, I'd suggest 8 point of lay birds. It's a sweet spot.
- Not too expensive to house
- Not too expensive to buy
- Not too long to wait for eggs
- Easy to look after.
- Not too heavy on feed bills.
To be precise, good layers will each provide you with 0.82 eggs per day average over the year! That is about 4 dozen eggs a week from 8 healthy hens. That yield covers a lot of scenarios.
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Keep a voracious egg-eating family fed on delicious eggs for a third of the price of eggs in supermarkets, the quality of which won't come close to what your hens lay if you keep them eating a variety of cereal, scraps or free ranging.
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Eight birds will lay enough surplus eggs for a "normal egg eating family" to share or trade with neighbour(s).
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When the short nights set in, production will drop, even if only temporarily while they adjust, but 8 birds between them will usually give you some eggs.
Less than 8 and your egg supply isn't so reliable. More than 8 and well, there's nothing wrong with more than 8, it's just not the same sweet spot!
Rearing from day olds or incubating, it's all doable but that's a different ball game. I would argue, aiming for 8 layers going that route is not cheaper and could involve dealing with a bit of death compared to Point of Lay birds from a reputable breeder.
Again, there's nothing wrong with this alternative. You will just learn that not all fertilised eggs mature, there is no telling how many day olds are males, and chicks die for no apparent reason, all of which complicates the program ie you need a lot more than 8 eggs or day olds to end up with 8 layers in 4 months' time.
Hope that helps.
As a word to the wise, there was a rush for laying birds in Spain this Spring and the breeders were caught by surprise. Unfortunately, rather than doing the right thing, they sold young birds as Point of Lay. 40 days until the first egg, is not how it is supposed to work, especially at today's prices.
#olivegroveeggs #chickens # homesteading #grownostr