Originally Posted by mama's place
Feeding them can get a little pricey if you're not careful. My mom at 95 has some hens that we got for her as chicks so she could have something to be interested in, etc. They lay the blue green eggs that you mentioned. They have gone for weeks and months without laying one egg. So, you can't count on making money from their eggs, year round. Some breeds, as you noted, are better layers than others. They do produce a LOT of poop and that can be used as great fertilizer for roses. Might be a source of some income also.
Oh, now I can't resist getting into this topic... we have the Americana chickens that lay the green/blue eggs. We also have other breeds. And yes, they do moult (stop laying eggs). Ours are in that stage right now. I refer to it and them being on strike. Which isn't very smart on their part.
We love the eggs they produce when they are laying and love giving them away to friends at church. 200 is a lot of chickens! I think 2 to 3 dozen sounds like a good start.
I was just looking at our Murray McMurray poultry catalog last night as we are getting ready to order some ourselves. Some of them were giving me ideas for creating funky chickens for this swap. They are so interesting. :-D