It cost me $8 a month to feed 12 hens because i sell the eggs to co-workers. Too many people build chicken condos. You can build a good hoop run with nesting boxes or a salatin run for $300. You dont even have to use bedding. Just get leaves or pinestraw from your neighbors in the fallI dont know. I was looking at the eggs thinking how much cheaper it would be for me to buy eggs than keep chickens.