Testimonials
29th Sep 2009
Dear Alison,
May I firstly thank you for such an enjoyable and comprehensive website. I have learnt many new things and as a person wishing to keep chickens in the garden for the first time, it has been perfect.
Emma Thompson
Home > Support and Advice > Free Eggs
Free Eggs
Really? Free Eggs! Yes, and here’s how.
You are thinking of 2 or 3 hens to produce enough eggs for your immediate family. You will buy them a hen house, feeder, drinker and fencing for a run. A house will generally hold a minimum of 6 hens, there are very few made that will house less. The same house, feeder, drinker and a slightly bigger area will house up to 6 chickens for the same capital cost as the 3 you were thinking of.
You might have to read this a few times!
An egg chicken will eat about 150g of pellets a day. A bag of pallets is 20kg, so there are 133 daily portions of feed in a bag. A bag will feed your 3 hens for 44 days (allowing for rounding) and costs about £8.50.
Once they get going, your three hens will lay 3 eggs a day. That will be more than sufficient for your family and a few friends. In cost terms we established above that you will get 133 eggs at a cost of £8.50, making an egg cost of 6.4p. A further hen will require no more capital outlay or effort as you are already looking after your 3 girls. She will however lay a further egg a day and as you don’t need this one, you will be able to sell them to friends and work colleagues at, say, £1.50 for 6, a profit of £1.11 a box! (18.6p profit per egg)
That profit will soon pay for a bag of food in 46 days. Using the above consumption rate of 150g a day, 4 hens will eat a 20kg bag of pellets in 33 days. The profit from egg sales in 33 days is £6.14. So with a margin of 13 days, 4 hens will be fed almost entirely on the profits of selling the eggs of the 1 extra hen. That makes the eggs from your originally intended 3 hens, almost entirely free!
A 5th hen will make a bag last 26 days. There will be a benefit of 2 extra eggs a day and an egg profit of £9.67 over 26 days. That is the £8.50 bag paid in full and £1.17 left over. A 6th hen will make a bag last 22 days. There will be a benefit of 3 extra eggs a day and an egg profit of £12.27 over 22 days. That is the £8.50 bag paid in full and £3.77 left over. Filling your 6 hen house to capacity will give you free eggs and a profit of £3.77 in 22 days, around £1.26 per week.
That’s not enough to excite the tax man, but where else would you get free eggs?
Small Pet Boarding
We have indoor and outdoor hutches for Rabbits and Guinea Pigs, just bring your pet and we do the rest. We even store your carry cage until your return.
Pets with their own portable cage such as Hamsters, Rats, Mice, Gerbils, Degus, Chinchilas, Budgies and Parrots come in their cages and live in the dining room. We can also accomodate chickens and reptiles (not together).
We provide all the food and bedding your pets need during their stay with us. Weather permitting, rabbits and guinea pigs have access to outside runs; hamsters get exercise in a ball. This is 'Centre Parks' for pets!
Cost
- Chickens are 75p per hen per night
- Budgies are £1.50 per bird per night, Parrots are £2.50 per bird per night
- Gerbils, Hamsters, Rats, Mice and Degus are £1.50 per pet per night
- Rabbits and Guinea Pigs are £1.50 per pet per night. There is a shared cage rate of £24 per week.
Contact us from the Contact button below with your dates and type of pet to check availability of accomodation.