Chickens Make Headlines

Beating the price of eggs with the fastest growing profitable hobby in Britain
  • Recent surveys have shown that basic everyday grocery item prices are rising faster than ever, overall at least 12% in the last 12 months. Eggs for example have risen 39% over the last 12 months.
  • One effect of this is in the dramatic increase in families starting to keep their own chickens, usually between 4-6 birds in their gardens. Golden Valley Poultry near Guildford reports that even in the relatively prosperous southern counties they are seeing nearly 50% of their customers are starting up for the first time or, re-starting, keeping chickens again. They are also getting over 900 website enquiries a week.
  • Golden Valley Poultry put this partly down to the economic squeeze because of the savings that can be made. The other reason being the desire to return to 'the good life' and the increasing knowledge that chickens make great pets to have around the garden.
  • Once you have built your run or bought a coop, genuinely free range, laying birds cost on average around the £16 mark each.
  • These specially bred birds, usually Rhode Island Red Crosses, produce up to and around 300 eggs per year.
  • The cost of feeding and housing a bird can work out as little as 2.5p-5.0p per day, or around £14 per year.
  • Compare that with buying 300 free range eggs in the supermarket. Where an average price for 'free range' eggs is now around 27p per egg. Which works out at £81 per year! (Some 'organic' eggs are now upwards of 35p per egg!.)
  • Each bird you keep can save you therefore about £67 every year. Four birds, perhaps the average kept, £270 every year.
  • It is recorded that the average individual consumes 170 eggs per year!
  • We have also seen a growing trend of two or three neighbours getting together to share the cost benefits.
  • Together with growing your own vegetables keeping chickens is certainly one of the fastest growing, and profitable, hobbies.
  • Chickens do make wonderful placid family pets as well as representing a major potential saving on the housekeeping.


Graham Page
Golden Valley Poultry
info@goldenvalleypoultry.co.uk