I do not understand the mathematics behind the dilemma. I’m assuming only the firts chicks cost money, because down the line they will breed.
But feeding them, housing them - vitamins and doctoring costs a lot of money.
So anyone with couple or more chickens - how much does it cost to have them on the table? And realistically how many eggs do you get?
Even that Wikipedia article refers to several definitions for sentience, ranging from experiences sensation through ability to make choices all the way up to human-level consciousness. Sci-fi stories have used it to mean “human-like” when the word “human-like” was inappropriate for the story, but vegan literature uses it in what might be its original definition, which could be broadly termed as “able to sense.”
Speaking of literature, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article is a literature study, not an attempt at objective definition. I think any honest assessment agrees that there isn’t an objective definition here, partially because we don’t understand most of the questions we’re asking, let alone the answers.
I said more about it here, but in short, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to select a definition of sentience that includes chickens. I just also think it’s perfectly reasonable to select a definition that doesn’t.