$11 Per Egg

Tomorrow, I am changing my chickens' feed from growth encouraging corn to egg-encouraging pellets, full of vitamins and hormones, all that stuff they pay extra NOT to include in the States.

I did some quick math, which is about all I can do without a calculator, and if I manage to get two dozen eggs in March, each egg will have cost me about $11. I put about $160 into the hen house, and $35 for pullets. Food and vitamins for two and a half months, plus recent additions of extra fencing to keep out the damned fox, brought the total to nearly $270. Subsequent months will run about $ .30 per egg. $27 is the cost of the egg feed, and I can expect 75-80 eggs per month. Until the chickens pass their egg-laying prime, when I will be unable to just use them for soup, and will continue to feed them a cheaper feed until they die of old age. And I'll buy some new pullets, too. Within two years, I'll have four thousand chickens, right?

It will be a different story with the white chickens I am planning to buy as fluffy yellow peeps next month. Jonathan is building me a peep box which will serve as their home until they fledge and can go into the hen house. They will stuff themselves with grow feed until they are big enough to, uh, eat.
Maria José will do the honors and I'll have six months of chickens in the freezer. I will force myself to lavish my love on my hens and ignore the white chickens, or this whole plan will fall apart. There are other concerns as well. What if some of the peeps turn out to be roosters? How much will the vet charge to make capons?

For the record, I am not zackly doing all this to save money, which is good, as I will mos def not save money. I love having chickens, I love fresh eggs, and I like to eat chicken, and it is all about me! And of course, I plan to share the bounty with friends and employees.

A little more quick math tells me that in nine days, Gabriel will arrive for a quick visit while his school district takes a short vacation. Hurray! Travel safely, my sweet boy!