[bokkies]

I have 20 hens and 2 roosters (living in a country village where neighbours like the authentic rural vibes) I buy 50kg of feed every 6 weeks for (equivalent)$23. Outside of winter we average 7-12 eggs a day and in winter about 2-4 a day. What we sell covers the cost of feed (except for winter)The birds free range all day and have large compost heaps and worm farms to gorge themselves on. Before moving to the country we had 4 hens in a city garden which worked out to a greater cost per egg due to the lesser free-ranging opportunities but still cheaper than a caged egg from a supermarket. Once you have your own hens you'll never go back to factory eggs!

[aaronbaugher]

True. Also, as someone with 30 hens which will soon be coming into peak spring production, I look forward to selling my extra eggs at current prices, assuming they don't fall soon. It never fails: when egg prices go up, I get family and friends hitting me up to buy some eggs at $3/dozen; and then when the store prices fall below that, I don't hear from them and I'm feeding the extras to my dogs.

It's funny how some things (real estate) are supposed to keep going up in price, and it's a disaster that requires government intervention if they don't, while for other things (eggs) just the opposite is true. I suppose it depends on who benefits from each.