Is it worth it to raise your own chickens for eggs? and have a small farm?
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A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the genus Apis live and raise their young. Natural beehives (typically referred to simply as "nests") are naturally-occurring structures occupied by honey bee colonies, while domesticated honey bees live in man-made beehives, often in an apiary. These man-made structures are typically referred to as "beehives". Only species of the subgenus Apis live in hives, but only the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) are domesticated by humans..
The beehive‘s internal structure is a densely packed matrix of hexagonal cells made of beeswax, called a honeycomb. The bees use the cells to store food (honey and pollen), and to house the "brood" (eggs, larvae, and pupae).
Photo: Clay tiles were the customary homes of domesticated bees in the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
Long cylinders of baked clay were used in ancient Egypt, the Middle East and to some extent in Greece, Italy and Malta. They sometimes were used singly, but more often stacked in rows to provide some shade, at least for those not on top. Keepers would smoke one end to drive the bees to the other end while they harvested honey.
Photo: skep In northern and western Europe, baskets made of coils of grass or straw, called skeps, were used.
In its simplest form, there is a single entrance at the bottom of the skep.
Photo: Modern commercial hives The brood box is picked up using small hand holds cut into the external wall of the hive.
There are two basic types of modern or movable hive in common use, the "Langstroth hive" (including all the size variants) which has enclosed frames to hold the comb and the top-bar or Kenya-hives which, as the name implies, have only a top-bar to support the comb. These hives are typified by removable frames which allow the apiarist to inspect for diseases and parasites. Movable frames also allow a beekeeper to more easily split the hive to make new colonies.
Photo: Langstroth Frames with beeswax honeycomb formed by the bees. Langstroth frames are thin rectangular structures made of wood or plastic and which have a wax or plastic foundation on which the bees draw out the comb. The frames hold the beeswax honeycomb formed by the bees. Ten frames side-to-side will fill the hive body and leave the right amount of bee space between each frame and between the end frames and the hive body.
They are often reinforced with wire, making it possible to extract honey in centrifuges to spin the honey out of the comb. As a result, the empty frames and comb can be returned to the beehive for use in the next season. Since it is estimated that bees require as much food to make one kilogram of beeswax as they do to make eight kilograms of honey, the ability to reuse comb can significantly increase honey production. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive
Photo: Wooden hives in Stripeikiai in Lithuania
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Top Photo Credits: www.flickr.com/photos/ideacreamanuelapps/favorites/
Question by Shuggah Pie Sweets: Is it worth it to raise your own chickens for eggs? and have a small farm?
I’d only want a small honey bee farm, some chickens and vegetable garden.
And that’s it.
Maybe a lamb or two to help mow the lawn
I would truely definately be doing it mostly for L O V E. as I adore all animals, and always loved gardening
i am very saddened however by this news abt bee colonies.
Give your answer to this question below!
12 Responses to Is it worth it to raise your own chickens for eggs? and have a small farm?
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Yes, i wish i could raise my own chickens for eggs.. u’d save a lot of money
`__´ got rice?
December 11, 2011 at 11:05 pm
yeah dude the’d be the best damn eggs you ever had!
none of the genetically modified mutant eggs
Kirk W
December 11, 2011 at 11:53 pm
well it depends i don’t think you would make
cause i don;t think you would get that many eggs
to get money to afford vital things
Whato
December 12, 2011 at 12:26 am
Chickens are very easy to deal with, you only need 5 or 6 of them and you’ll have plenty of eggs, no problem. Bees? I’ve never dealt with bees but my neighbor has a bee farm and seems to enjoy it. It’s not difficult unless you have mass numbers of animals.
Jessica
December 12, 2011 at 12:46 am
Yes once you see the difference between your home grown eggs and battery farm eggs(color and taste) you’ll never want to go back
laishan77
December 12, 2011 at 1:43 am
we have 9 chickens and we get 9 eggs a day, they are way better than normal eggs. They are like the free range eggs which are heaps more expensive. We keep them in area of land with a fence around it. They have a house, where they live and lay. Chicken feed isn’t too expensive. The eggs also keep for ages, so when we have excess eggs my brothers sell them for 6$ a dozen
Paige B
December 12, 2011 at 2:28 am
It is absolutely worth it to raise chicks as long as you have some time to devote to them. Just some, not a lot because they are fairly easy to take care of. The eggs will be way better than store bought, especially if you free range your birds.
I have no idea about bees, but there have been a lot of problems recently about colony losses written about in the farming magazines. You’d be wise to research this thoroughly.
Vegetable gardens can be as complicated or as easy as you choose to make them. It depends what you try to grow. Either way the produce beats supermarket stuff hands down.
Lambs are lousy at mowing lawns. The never get it even & they miss spots, plus they leave presents for you to step in when you have to go out mow it again. 🙂
PS… if you grow flowers, the better looking they are the better the lambs like to eat them instead of the grass.
DJK
December 12, 2011 at 3:08 am
It’s a great lifestyle choice, but do it for love not for money!
mr petey
December 12, 2011 at 4:06 am
How many eggs ya going to eat? It does get to be lots of work.
Try finding the Backwoods Home website. There is lots of info in their magazine about chickens and gardens and all that fun stuff.
Enjoy!
bahbdorje
December 12, 2011 at 4:36 am
Nothing better then freshly laid eggs in the morning and your own fruit and veggies. If you have the time to care and look after them all its a wonderful time indeed.
bunya nuts
December 12, 2011 at 4:44 am
yes
Jack the Toad
December 12, 2011 at 4:55 am
Monetarily it is not worth it to have a small farm. But if you like hard work being outside and dealing with animals than yes it is very much worth it. Oh and the food is incredible if you raise it organically.
I used to raise eggs for sale. Had 85 hens and a few roosters. Charged $ 4 a dozen for certified organic pastured eggs and generally sold all I had. The venture did turn a profit of around $ 2500 per year but when I ran the numbers found it would be far cheaper to buy other’s eggs at $ 3.50 a dozen than to raise hens, eat all we wanted than sell the rest of the eggs.
Raising 4 or 5 hens will get you enough eggs for yourself but not enough to sell unless you think you can make it selling 3 to 4 dozen eggs a week.
Top be successful you will have to build a strong coop that excludes all predators (easier said than done). A weak coop means you will lose your chickens quickly and brutally
Having livestock means at some point having to kill the livestock (culling). They will eventually get too old, have too many babies (that grow to adults) to feed, hatch/birth the wrong sex (you do not want a lot of roosters, for example, and neither does anyone but cock fighters want ’em either. So you have to kill them).
Having livestock means working 7 days a week/365 days a year. It is hard to take a vacation because you must find a farm sitter who will not allow your animals to get injured or die (this is a hard person to find, been there done that).
Having a successful garden is also a lot of work, expect at least 3 hours a day for a moderate sized market garden. Even a home garden big enough to supply you with enough food for year round eating will take at least an hour most days. Than there is the canning, freezing and drying so you have food to eat in the winter
If you really want to farm go get a job on the kind of farm you see yourself living on. If you still like the work after a few weeks than go ahead with your plan.
Know that it will cost you around $ 200K to get started even with only 5 or 10 acres
ohiorganic
December 12, 2011 at 5:11 am