10 years back, we were getting eggs at something like 25c/egg in feed costs. But we had a bunch of birds that only laid every 2 or 3 days, so they were no where near as efficient as a first year dedicated layer. OTOH, they all had names, we had most of the egg colors, and the bantam eggs were so cute. And the one hen that basically only laid double yolkers.
We're able to keep the feed costs down simply because as a family of 7 with young kids we have a lot of food waste that the birds will happily gobble up.
Also their bedding makes fantastic compost for next year's veggies.
We've recently taken on chickens and I also find the spaghetti free-for-alls very entertaining. I also like 'Chicken Basketball' where they will all attempt to get control of a squishy tomato or steal it from whoever has possession.
10 years back, we were getting eggs at something like 25c/egg in feed costs. But we had a bunch of birds that only laid every 2 or 3 days, so they were no where near as efficient as a first year dedicated layer. OTOH, they all had names, we had most of the egg colors, and the bantam eggs were so cute. And the one hen that basically only laid double yolkers.