Eggsactly!
Every time someone undervalues their eggs, everyone else suffers...
It's like if I decided to sell a house for $1000.
All the other house values dip.
How much does it cost to raise chickens?
I'm working out a spreadsheet to see if I'm even breaking even at a $5 price per dozen…
My calculations so far.
Eggs.
11 hens = 8 eggs/day x 7 days = 56 eggs/week. Reasonable estimate accounting for off days.
56 eggs x 40 good weeks =2240 eggs/12 = 186 dozens x $5/dozen = $930 year minimum
Cartons
Large cartons $36 for 30 =$1.20/carton $223/year 186 cartons
Standard size cartons $30 for 30 = $1/carton $186/year 186 cartons
Feed
Starting point: 1/4 of a pound per fully grown chicken per day.
This means each chicken will eat approximately 1.5 pounds of feed in a week.
12 birds x 1.5 = 18 lbs per wk X52 wks = 936 lbs/50 lb bags = 19
15.29 Dumor 50lb x19/year $291
OR
18.79 Nutrena 50lb x19/year $357
OR (24.99 40 lb organic crumbles) (19/yr $475)
Scratch $15.49 5 grain 30 lbs x3/year $46
Oyster shell $13.49 50 lbs x1 /year $13
Metal cans - outdoor feed $27.99, scratch and oyster shell storage, poo collector $24.99x3 = $103
Water $3.52 per 100 cubic feet. $.0047/gallon
Straw - nest box, year round $13.99 chopped 2 cu ft x4year = $56
Straw - winter bedding, 3 months 14.39 compressed 3.6 cu ft x3/year = $43
Pine shavings - winter, 3 months $5.59 flake, 8cuft x3/year = $17
Builder’s sand - nonwinter, 9 monthsx3 bags/month $3.48/bag x27/year=$94
Poop scooper x1 = $13
Metal rake x1= $22
Initial costs:
Shade cloth $40
Overhead netting $50
Electric - lights, timer, heated waterer $56, automatic door, radiant heat panel $45
Lighting - inside solar string $14, motion security $30
Rope
Fasteners: zip ties, caribiners
Winterizing: plywood, shower curtains
Paver blocks
Gasoline - mileage to feed store
Medical supplies: gauze, wrap, salve, antibiotic paste and spray, blucote, ACV, vitamins, bra, saddle, cat carrier/dog crate
Maintenance on structures
Coop/pen $1500, run fencing, hardware cloth, roosts, waterer $37, feeder $8
Poultry - chicks or adults
Incubator if hatching eggs $150
Brooder plate if starting with chicks
How much does it cost to raise chickens?
There were some consumables I didn't price out, but as I guessed, the amount in from eggs - at $5 per dozen - doesn't cover the yearly costs.
Initial startup costs
-103 cans-13 scoop-22 rake-40 shade cloth-50 netting-56 heated waterer-45 radiant heat panel-14 solar string-30 motion lights-1500 coop/pen-37 2 gal waterer, nonheated-8 7 pound feeder=-1912 Consumables per year-223 cartons-357 feed-4 scratch-13 oyster shell-56 straw-43 straw-17 pine shavings-94 sand= -907