"Leroy Whetstone" <lrw### [at] joplincom> wrote in message 
news:4AC### [at] joplincom...
>
> Congatulations on raising 300 birds!
>
> We just raised 100. We don't sell the meat. We eat it :)
> We sell eggs. Brown eggs.
> Half of our birds end up as fried chicken.(we buy mixed hens & roosters)
> I've been raising chickens off and on for 15 years. I don't let them run, 
> where I live (the woods in Missouri) there are to many critters.
> I have never had the chance to eat one of the hens after their laying
> days are done, a racoon usaly gets them first.

I've become complacent in that regard.  Even the neighborhood dogs rarely 
show up in our yard anymore.  I just hope that if something bad does happen 
(and it will eventually), that it doesn't completely wipe them out.  I've 
read that dogs will occasionally do that.

> A friend of mine had 40 or so Reds (I grow Bar Rocks)and she's tring to 
> raise them free range style. She's down to 20.

In addion to the meat chickens, we have 14 hens and a couple banty roosters. 
I tried to get a variety of egg colors ranging from brown to light-brown to 
white to green.  It's fun to put them in the carton and see a rainbow of egg 
colors.  :-)

> You mention the finances of growing chickens. I never did make a big 
> profit, even selling eggs for two years and counting what we would spend 
> for the meat of the ones we butchered. This year we already spent over 
> $600 and they are just started laying.(got 4 eggs)

I can't seem to make money selling eggs.  There are too many other people 
doing the same thing in my area.  So, we just try to sell the extras and 
consider it a hobby.

>  How much did you pay for your chicks? We paid $1.25 each. I'm seriously 
> thinking of hatching my own. All I need is an incubator and 23 days or so 
> of electric. If you let a hen set on them then you have to be real brave 
> and quick to get those chicks from that mother hen :O
>
> Have Fun!

This last batch, I bought 150 from www.jmhatchery.com for around $1.20 each, 
including shipping.  They're not your standard cornish cross meat chicken. 
Most of the time, I try to buy from my local hatchery (around $1.25 
shipped), or from the farm store in the spring, which sells them for 99 
cents each.

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