Chicks vs Started Pullets: Which Is Cheaper in Year One?
$5 chicks that take 6 months to lay, or $25 pullets laying within weeks? The answer depends on what you value more: your money or your patience.
Every new chicken keeper hits this fork in the road. Option A: day-old chicks at about $5 each, fluffy and adorable, needing 5 to 6 months of feed, heat, and care before a single egg appears. Option B: started pullets at about $25 each, 16 to 24 weeks old, settling in and laying within weeks.
The sticker prices make chicks look like the obvious deal. Five dollars versus twenty five? Not close. But that is the wrong comparison, because the birds are not the same product. One is a project. The other is a working asset. Let me price them both properly.
The real cost of raising a chick to laying age
Meyer Hatchery estimates that raising a single chick from day-old to about 16 weeks costs roughly $7 in feed and brooding electricity, on standard chick starter feed. That figure does not include brooder supplies: the heat lamp or brooder plate, the tub or pen, the chick waterer and feeder. Call that another $30 to $50 for the setup if you do not already own it, though it amortizes across the whole flock.
For 6 chicks: $30 for the birds, about $42 in feed and electricity to 16 weeks, plus maybe $40 in shared brooder gear. Roughly $112 total, or about $18.70 per bird at point of lay.
Compare that to 6 started pullets at $25 each: $150, laying within weeks of arrival, already vaccinated for common poultry illnesses at most reputable hatcheries, and guaranteed hens rather than the 50/50 gamble of straight-run chicks.
So the pure dollar difference is small: roughly $18.70 per home-raised bird vs $25 per purchased pullet. The real difference is time. Those chicks eat for 5 to 6 months before laying. That is 6 months of buying eggs at the store while your coop sits half idle, plus daily brooder checks, temperature management at 95 degrees in week 1, and the genuine risk of losing a chick or two. With a purchased pullet, week 3 is usually your first egg.
What the calendar does to year 1 egg economics
Start both flocks on March 1. The pullets start laying in late March or April. By December, 6 pullets at 5 eggs a week have produced roughly 1,300 eggs, about 108 dozen.
The chicks start laying in August or September, later if they hit the fall daylight decline first, which can push first eggs to 9 or 10 months. By December you might have 600 to 800 eggs, call it 60 dozen. Same feed budget through the fall. Fewer eggs to divide it by. That is why chicks lose the year 1 math even though they are cheaper per bird: time, not bird price, is the expensive input.
Then there is the rooster problem. Unless you buy sexed pullet chicks, straight-run chicks are roughly 50 percent male. Two roosters in a 6-bird backyard flock is two birds eating feed and producing zero eggs, in a neighborhood that may not allow crowing at 5 in the morning. Sexed chicks cost a few dollars more each and reduce the risk, but the guarantee is never 100 percent.
When chicks are actually the right call
Do not hear me say pullets always win. Chicks are the right choice if:
You have kids. Raising chicks from day one is genuinely magical for children, and hand-raised birds are noticeably friendlier and easier to handle for years. Several experienced keepers say their hand-raised birds were the friendliest in the flock long after the novelty wore off.
You want a specific rare breed. Hatcheries sell far more breeds as day-olds than as started pullets. If your heart is set on a breed nobody raises locally, chicks may be your only option.
You enjoy the process. Brooding chicks is a hobby. If the brooder in the garage sounds like fun rather than a chore, that counts for a lot.
You are expanding an existing flock. The brooder gear is already paid for and you know the drill.
My take for first-timers who mainly want eggs: buy started pullets. You skip the brooder, skip the rooster lottery, skip 5 months of feeding birds that lay nothing, and you get eggs in your first month. The extra $6 or so per bird is the cheapest tuition you will ever pay in chicken keeping.
See what your flock costs either way. The free Backyard Chicken Cost Calculator lets you switch between day-old chicks and started pullets and watch year 1 cost, per dozen eggs, and break-even move. Plug in your local feed prices and see which start makes sense for you.
Typically 16 to 24 weeks old, sold right around point of lay. First small eggs usually appear at about 21 weeks, and most pullets are laying steadily within a few weeks of settling into their new coop.
How long until day-old chicks lay eggs?
Usually 5 to 6 months for layer breeds, sometimes longer if they mature into the short days of fall and winter. Birds that hit laying age in October may not start until spring without supplemental lighting.
Are started pullets worth the extra cost?
For egg-focused beginners, usually yes. The price gap is smaller than it looks once you add brooder gear, feed for 5 to 6 non-laying months, and the lost egg production. You are paying roughly $6 more per bird to skip months of work and waiting.
Can I mix chicks and pullets in one flock?
Not at first. Pullets should be quarantined from new birds for a couple of weeks, and day-old chicks need a heated brooder that adult birds do not. They can be integrated once the chicks are fully feathered and close to adult size, usually around 12 to 16 weeks.