CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — As grocery prices go up, more people in Georgia are looking into raising their own chickens. But it may be harder (and more expensive) than it looks.
Many people have had it with high egg prices and they think fresher eggs taste better.
But raising chickens comes with its own costs.
At Swint’s Feed and Garden Supply in Jonesboro, customers lined up around the building to be able to buy baby chicks.
“I checked our cameras this morning, and at seven o’clock we had people in the parking lot,” owner Kathy Swint told Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer. “We usually have it out the building and down the sidewalk when we open the door.”
The store sells hundreds of baby chicks, prized for their colors and different eggs the hens will produce.
People all across Georgia are starting their own coops, growing their flocks, and fighting high egg prices.
The latest average for a dozen eggs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is $6.23.
But before you can get eggs, you’ll need supplies.
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Most of the baby chicks are between $5 and $10 each. Plus, you’ll need to provide housing, food, and health supplies for them.
Phyllis Gardner found exactly what she was looking for.
“I can re-up my flock because you know at work a lot of people want fresh eggs, and so I try to make sure I have enough,” Gardner said.
She takes the chicks back home to a puppy crate inside her house. That’s where she’ll care for them for two to three months.
“So they can tolerate the outside and they don’t need the heater anymore They can maintain their own body heat,” Gardner said.
Then they’ll join her 22 chickens outside.
“I haven’t bought an egg in the store in over five years,” she said.
She showed Stouffer around her backyard coops where hens eat, drink, and lay up to two dozen eggs a day.
Gardner said it can take four to six months before you get that payoff.
“And anybody that does it, you’re gonna be a couple of three, $4,000 in before you actually get an egg,” Gardner said. “Make sure that you want this because they do walk and poop and they do eat quite a bit.”
If you’re interested in backyard chickens, the first thing to do is to check the rules where you live.
Many Georgia community allow backyard hens, but there are different restrictions on numbers, lot sizes, and permits.
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