Backyard Chickens for Commercial Use

Antoinette considers modeling as a full time career. In the Lease Committee meeting a couple of weeks ago I was asked if I would ever consider using my birds for profit - a very reasonable question - as were the other questions which I've been addressing.

A good laying hen will produce an egg roughly every 26 hours during her most productive years (about three), during the warm months, if she is not broody or molting. See "Radio interview and egg laying info" post from July 10. A dozen fresh eggs costs approximately $4.00 - so in order to make $4/day on a consistent basis until the days get noticeably shorter and the hens stop laying, one would have to have at least 14 chickens. Therefore, it is not economically feasible to make a profit from having a small backyard flock.

However, it is certainly possible to end up with more eggs than necessary and to give them to friends, family and kind neighbors. Unfortunately for those around me, this doesn't happen much in our yard. I am lucky if I get two eggs a day, I have two hungry children and we do a decent amount of baking.