🐔 BuildToDoGood Chickens

Honest math for backyard chicken keepers. Feed costs that match reality. Coops that actually work. Reviews from people who've cleaned a coop in February.

There are roughly 14 million backyard flocks in the US now. Most of the content telling you how to keep them is either ranchers writing for large operations or city people who got chickens in 2020 and have eight months of experience and a TikTok account. Neither one is helpful when your goal is six laying hens that don't die over the winter.

The tools here are for the second flock. The one where you stopped losing birds to dumb mistakes and started thinking about ratios, feed conversion, light cycles, and predator pressure. Practical math. Honest gear reviews. No "I made $400/month from my backyard eggs" content, because that math doesn't work and you know it.

Tools

Feed Cost Calculator Daily feed weight per bird by life stage, monthly cost at your local feed price, cost per dozen eggs accounting for non-laying days and winter molt. Coop Size Calculator soon Minimum coop sq ft, run sq ft, nest boxes, and roost length by flock size. Accounts for confinement winter weeks and breed temperament. Expected Lay Rate by Breed soon Eggs per year by breed, with realistic drop for first molt and second-year decline. The number to plan replacement timing. Supplemental Light Timer Calculator soon When to start adding morning light to maintain winter lay. With the honest trade-off about shorter productive life.

Honest reviews coming

First write-up: comparing four mid-tier chicken feeds (Purina Layena, Nutrena NatureWise, Kalmbach 17% Layer, and a Tractor Supply DuMOR house brand). Same six hens, same coop, same season, swapped feeds every 30 days, logged feed consumption, egg weight, and shell quality. Coming this summer.

Second write-up: automatic coop doors. The Run Chicken T50 vs. Brinsea ChickSafe vs. one $80 Amazon no-name model. Six months of real winter testing in Delaware.

Plain note about money: Some links are affiliate (eBay Partner Network and Tractor Supply mostly). Small commission if you buy through them. Doesn't change your price. The reviews come from actual flock-keeping. If the cheap option wins, the cheap option wins, even when it has no affiliate program.