[spatley]

I built a chicken coop, mostly as a hobby, and the eggs were a bonus. the 1,000 in materials for the structure and 25 bucks a month in food and bedding make that amortization table go out a couple of decades before you see ROI.

I joke that they are the most expensive organic eggs you can buy. ;)

[wiredfool]

That $800 first egg...

10 years back, we were getting eggs at something like 25c/egg in feed costs. But we had a bunch of birds that only laid every 2 or 3 days, so they were no where near as efficient as a first year dedicated layer. OTOH, they all had names, we had most of the egg colors, and the bantam eggs were so cute. And the one hen that basically only laid double yolkers.

[declan_roberts]

We're able to keep the feed costs down simply because as a family of 7 with young kids we have a lot of food waste that the birds will happily gobble up.

Also their bedding makes fantastic compost for next year's veggies.

It's a nice system.

[wiredfool]

Leftover spaghetti and red sauce is hilarious when chickens get a hold of it.

[prawn]

We've recently taken on chickens and I also find the spaghetti free-for-alls very entertaining. I also like 'Chicken Basketball' where they will all attempt to get control of a squishy tomato or steal it from whoever has possession.

[oaththrowaway]

Double yolkers are my favorite, always a pleasant surprise!

[prawn]

We recently had a small egg (shell and all; size of a large grape) within a large egg.

[_tariky]

Health does not have a price.

Owners of coops know how different are those organic eggs. Totally diffrent color of yolks, also they have totally different smell when they are cooked.

[declan_roberts]

I also notice that the yolks are bigger in my backyard hens vs store bought eggs.

That could be a side-effect from slower winter laying though since we don't use an artificial light.