Clint S
I figure I would be far ahead $$ wise not having chickens. Especially in the winter when you can't let them out. There is not enough meat on good egg layers. They are excellent pest control though.

My thoughts too Clint but he is young and ambitious so he has to learn.
I'm about getting 2-3 pigs as livestock next year.

Unless you can keep them a little warm chickens produce little in the winter. I have 11 and  only get a couple of eggs a day in winter.  They need at least 12 hours of light too. With the heat lamp and the feed I was getting maybe 2 dozen eggs at $20 month for food and electricity dying the coldest months. Summer its a bonanza with 7to 10 eggs a day and outside forage time.  You then have to worry about predators. I have lost as many as 10 at one time.  Leg horns are awesome layers of white eggs but have little meat. RI Reds a pretty good layers of browns but only a little more meat than the LH. I have australops which are bigger yet with decent egg production.  BUT the bigger the bird the more they eat. So plan what you want. I turn mine over every two years. Any longer than that meat gets tougher. I always do a few turkeys too

You won't be money ahead with chickens unless you are selling hatching eggs and young birds, and honestly that gets to be a pain for me. I have gotten mostly dual purpose (and rather broody) breeds and let them hatch out their own next generations. We pressure can the roosters and I make broth from the carcasses and grind up the bones and feed the mush back to the dogs and other birds. The canned meat and broth are excellent and worth the effort...but I like the 'old fashioned' self reliant stuff any day vs buying at the grocery!

Pigs eat anything and the only downside is keeping them penned in. We do two a year in an inside modified horse pen.
 
Fish guts, left overs, even grass and weeds from the garden  goes in the pig pen.  Any meat or veggies go to the chickens.
Fisherldy what do you use to grind for dog food and do you worry about bones. I would like to do this.

hot tuna

Clint S
I figure I would be far ahead $$ wise not having chickens. Especially in the winter when you can't let them out. There is not enough meat on good egg layers. They are excellent pest control though.

My thoughts too Clint but he is young and ambitious so he has to learn.
I'm about getting 2-3 pigs as livestock next year.

 
  Young & ambitious, go for it!
 
 When my sons were young we had Bobwhite, Chukar, Peafowl, Chickens, Ducks, Coturnix, Turkey, different types of Pheasant, Doves, Geese, Crow, Screech Owl, Pigs, Goat, Foxes, Coons, Rabbits, Tortoise & I'm sure other critters as well. Now I'm down to a bait pond!! 
 
 On the berries I got 'em off my old man when he was thinning out. Work to keep up from spreading & weeds but tasty, too bad they get mushy after picking so fast. Wold never go back to the June crop the ever-bare is here. Would think 24 roots would be a good start with how fast they spread.
 
crappy

 When I was at camp last week my son & I watched U-Tube on the tube every night on gardening for hrs.  Spring fever had set in.  Some very good info. out there. He was interested in the raised beds & a Cub Cadet rear tine tiller $800 among other tips. 
 
crappy
 

Clint S
Pigs eat anything and the only downside is keeping them penned in. We do two a year in an inside modified horse pen.
 
Fish guts, left overs, even grass and weeds from the garden  goes in the pig pen.  Any meat or veggies go to the chickens.
Fisherldy what do you use to grind for dog food and do you worry about bones. I would like to do this.

I pressure cook the bones, feet and skin with a couple cups of water per carcass for 90 minutes at 15lb pressure. Then strain fluid through cheesecloth for broth (which I pressure can) then I take the (now falling apart) bones and run them through an old sausage grinder. If you dont use the gizzard, liver and hearts for anything you can boil them for a bit till cooked through and throw them in the grinder with the rest.

The result is a chicken mush which looks like crumbles sausage, no bone pieces big enough to cause any problems. The mush gets frozen in a cupcake tin till solid, then pop them out like ice cubes and stick them in a gallon zippy bag until you need them. Just defrost as needed...everything is already cooked. They make a nice treat for the chickens and the dogs absolutely love it.
My Mom has a dog with off and on digestion trouble who is a picky eater, she keeps a supply of the 'pucks' for any time there is a problem. My dogs just like it as a added treat. 1 puck plus 1/2 cup of water makes a tasty slurry to add to their dry food.

I process deer and fish myself.
Great suggestions on how to do things and thank you.
I don't think, I , myself am up to that task, nor my kid who has no clue, hence. No chicken for me, lol.

I think I have a grinder somewhere from my granny. I will try the pressure canning trick this spring when I ''thin the flock'' of the 6 2 year olds. I will probably only add 2 layers though as I have 11 now  and that's too many. With what turkeys cost ($7) and the feed they eat you probably have $15 plus dollars for a 20# bird. I usually do 2 and name them thanksgiving and Christmas.  I will probably do a few roasters too.  

Happiness is letting the hens do the dirty work and having a dog who likes to help.

https://youtu.be/Fl7ih6VpAoM

https://youtu.be/EUUFzpmZlv4