Standing up for feathered friends

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Chook debate, Aug 16 story.
Thanks Teddy for standing up for the feathered friends. 
I have had chooks on my work-style block for over 25 years. Here are some stats to help budding egg producers.
To buy in 12 hens, age 25 weeks, at $40 each will cost $480.
Note, the eggs will be small for two to four months and in my experience you will only get a consistent number of eggs for two and a half years. 
To buy 25kg of chook pellets now costs $36 (before covid, $26); 25kg kibbled maize costs $30 (before covid, $20).
If you have the skills to build a good chook house it will cost about $500. Buying a new one could cost $3000 to $5000. 
Let’s say $480 for the hens, $520 for the chook house — total $1000 plus the tucker you buy in (you can also feed your household scraps to the chooks).
You will need to sell over 100 dozen eggs to cover costs.
Most people give eggs away to good friends but they will be more than happy to buy the eggs, knowing where they came from and guaranteed fresh.
It is neat to see some councillors still have common sense to allow 12 hens per household.
If I couldn’t afford as above and had a small backyard, I would build a 2 metre x 2 metre chook house and buy three $40 laying pullets. Note, you may be able to buy five-week-old chickens for, say, $20 and rear them yourself. 
Next year I would build another 2m x 2m house and buy another three chooks (because older chooks don’t get on with new ones) and keep rotating.
After two years, the options are to chop the older chooks’ heads off, give them away or drop them off in someone’s paddock for their retirement.
Remember, if you give “Freckles” away as Teddy said, they will keep laying for a couple of years.
Come on Teddy, I don’t think the hens will live another five to 10 years — that may have been a misprint. They would be bloody tough to eat, eh!
Thanks to Mayor Stoltz and other councillors for shutting down Cr Robinson.
Merv Goodley