How long will it take to pay off raising your own chickens if you are a family of four and you eat only farm fresh eggs?

 Number of chickens needed.
If we are a family of four and consume an average of 10 dozen eggs per month, means that we will need our chickens to produce 120 eggs per month.
Eggs needed monthly:
A dozen = 12 eggs.
So, 12 eggs times 10 dozen = 120 eggs.
Eggs needed per week:
We will need to find the number of eggs we consume per week.
120 eggs divided by four weeks in a month, gives us the total of eggs needed per week.
120 ÷ 4 = 30 eggs needed per week (Almost 3 dozen eggs per week; more specifically 2 ½ dozen eggs). After doing the calculations my partner and I discovered that we were going to need six chickens; five hens and one rooster. The breed of the chickens we decided upon are the Rhode Island Red hens. We decided on the Rhode Island Reds because they are noted for their brown and delicious eggs. They can end up producing up to 200 eggs a year and a healthier one can lay even more. Healthy hens lay up to 6-7 eggs per week depending on their care and treatment. Additionally, Rhode Island Red hens lay many more eggs than an average hen if provided with plenty of quality feed. Looking at the information we have gathered we will need:
30 eggs per week, thus 5 hens will be sufficient to cover that quantity.
7 eggs times 5 hens will give us the amount of eggs that we are going to have per week.
Thus 7 ×5 = 35 eggs per week.
And 4 weeks (one month) × 35 eggs will give us 140 eggs per month.
This means that our hens will provide us with more eggs than we need per month; which it is a great thing.

 The costs involved in raising our own chickens.
List of items we will need: Chickens.
 Chicken coop.
 Food.
 Feeders.
 Health care.
Chickens
When searching through different sources online to find the best prices for purchasing chickens we came across a seller on Craiglist.org who sells laying hens for $7 each in Ellensburg (http://yakima.craigslist.org/grd/2860433969.html). This was the best price we found and also the most convenient place to buy our chickens since it is not too far away and a relative that lives close by can bring the chickens at no cost. The amount of chickens (6) needed times the price of each ($7 ea.) will give us the total of money that we are going to spend.
Cost of chickens: $7 ×6= $42
Chicken coop My partner and I decided to buy an already made chicken coop from a seller on Craiglist.org. We decided on this alternative instead of building our own chicken coop because it was more convenient for us. The chicken coop according to the seller measures,“4x5x4 with large side door for easy cleaning, easy access to nest box to collect the eggs” (http://yakima.craigslist.org/grd/2865628305.html). It also can host up to 6-8 hens which is exactly what we are looking for.
Chicken coop cost: $300.00 The chicken coop is relatively expensive, but when we thought about the process of building it from scratch would be time consuming. Aside from the wood and materials we would be required to purchase tools that we do not have, such as, a wood cutting saw; which in the end will be more expensive. Additionally, compared to other chicken coops being sold, this was a good price.
Food
We will be buying Brown’s Layer Booster Chicken Feed for $8.99 at Petco to feed the chickens; this will not be that expensive. Each bag contains 20 pounds and according to the package label it will feed up to 6 chickens which will last 2 weeks.
2 weeks = $8.99 ea.
Monthly cost of food: $8.99(2) = $17.98
Health care To keep the chickens in nutritional conditions we found out that they need Bird-Powder. Bird-Powder is a full complement of vitamins A, D, D, B12, and calcium that helps the chickens produce healthy eggs. We are going to order it from the website http://www.jefferslivestock.com.
Bird-Powder bottle cost: $10.95 ea. + Shipping $6.00 = $16.95
Feeders
We decided to buy four feeders (Lixit Chicken Feeder or Waterer) at Petco which will be utilize for both water and bird feed; two will contain bird feed and the other two water. We decided we will be needed four feeders for the chickens that way they don’t fight for one water feeder or food feeder. Each feeder cost $4.79. Total cost for feeders: $4.79(4) = $19.16

 First month expenses. Before beginning this project we had already assumed that the first month would be the most expensive. Now that we have done our research we are able to figure out the actual cost for the first month by adding up all the costs involved for raising our own chickens.
$300.00 Chicken Coop $42.00 Chickens (Rhode Island Red hens) $17.98 Food $16.95 Health care $19.16 Feeder $396.09 = Total cost. This will be the total amount of money spent on the first month.

 Expenses for following months. The following months will be less expensive than the first month since we will only need to buy certain items; food and health care products (Bird-Powder). For instance, it is important to keep our hens healthy and by providing them with a good health care product, such as, Bird-Powder it will not only insure their health, but it will also help our chickens lay great quality eggs.
Monthly items needed: Monthly food costs: $8.99(2) = $17.98 Monthly Bird-Powder bottle costs: $16.95 $ 17.98
+ $ 16.95 $ 34.93 will be our total cost for each of the following months. We discover that after the first month we will be spending almost $35 per month on producing our own fresh eggs. My partner and I through some research found out there are many places in Yakima that sell farm fresh eggs at $2 a dozen. This means that by buying from another seller we would spend $20 for ten dozen eggs per month compared to $35 we will spend monthly up keeping our own chicken coop. Thus, buying from another source will save us $15 a month which in our opinion is a big difference, even though our hens would be producing 140 eggs per month (20 eggs more than we eat a month).
We can also argue that $15 is not a big difference, but when we factor in the maintenance, time, responsibility and work required to take care of the chickens, such as, cleaning the chicken coop, making sure they have enough food and water, in our opinion does change our perspective; and it is not worth that extra money. Additionally, in the end it would take us quite a long time to pay off raising our own chickens. We are not even sure if we would be able to pay off what we spent the first month if we were to produce our on fresh eggs. Perhaps if the prices on fresh eggs go up in the future we might be able to recover our first month expenses, but as of right now we would be losing money instead of saving. For instance, if we were to sell the remainder of our eggs (20 eggs) at $2 a dozen we would still end up spending more than we would if we would just buy the eggs. Therefore, we believe we will benefit more by purchasing farm fresh eggs from a seller rather than maintaining our own chicken coop to produce them.