Six hens sounded cheap. Then I added up year one. Spoiler: the eggs were not free — but the math is more interesting than the cliché.
The upfront line items
Coop and run, feeder and waterer, brooder setup, and the birds themselves. That capital cost is what people conveniently forget when they say chickens “pay for themselves.”
Feed is the real story
Layer feed, grit, and bedding are the recurring cost, and they scale with your flock and your winter. In Zone 5, birds eat more just to stay warm.
Break-even per dozen
Spread year-one capital across the eggs actually laid and the first dozens are absurdly expensive. By year two, once the coop is paid off, the per-dozen cost drops below store price — if your hens keep laying through the cold.