First, Do the Math
The cheapest eggs I can find around here are about $0.13 per egg, or $1.56 per dozen.
It currently costs us $33.00 per month to feed our 35+ chickens with one bag of laying mash ($23.00) and one bag of whole corn ($10). On average, it costs us $1.07 per day to feed the hens.
At first, we were only getting 2-3 eggs per day. Now we are getting 5-6 eggs every day. You can see how the price of each egg goes down as production goes up.
1 egg per day... $1.07 per egg
2 eggs.... $0.53 per egg
3 eggs.... $0.36 per egg
4 eggs.... $0.27 per egg
5 eggs.... $0.21 per egg
6 eggs.... $0.18 per egg
7 eggs.... $0.15 per egg
8 eggs.... $0.13 per egg
9 eggs.... $0.12 per egg
10 eggs.... $0.11 per egg
11 eggs.... $0.10 per egg
12 eggs.... $0.09 per egg
As of right now, our eggs cost us $2.16 per dozen. Why are 35+ chickens only laying six eggs per day? For one thing, about five of them are roosters. I kept these for breeding stock, in order to eliminate the cost of chicks. Some of the hens are probably too old to lay, and some are too young. But the primary reason, I believe, is that I unintentionally let them molt this fall. After putting a light in the coop, production tripled. It tripled from two eggs per day, that is.
If you've got production up as high as possible and you still aren't breaking even, there are ways to make a flock pay for itself. For one, you can butcher the roosters and old hens. A 5 lb. bird at $1.00/lb is worth $5.00. If I butcher one bird per month, this cost savings can be subtracted from the feed. Plus, that is one less bird that you have to feed. In theory, each bird costs me $0.93 per month to feed, so that is one less dollar I have to spend. But for simplicity's sake, we'll keep that out of the equation.
$33.00/mo minus $5.00 = $18.00
1 egg per day... $0.90 per egg
2 eggs.... $0.45 per egg
3 eggs.... $0.30 per egg
4 eggs.... $0.23 per egg
5 eggs.... $0.18 per egg
6 eggs.... $0.15 per egg
7 eggs.... $0.13 per egg
8 eggs.... $0.11 per egg
9 eggs.... $0.10 per egg
10 eggs.... $0.09 per egg
11 eggs.... $0.08 per egg
12 eggs.... $0.08 per egg
Reducing Feed Costs
Another thing I'm in the process of doing is reducing feed costs. This is done by 1) switching feed, and 2) not buying feed. For example, instead of feeding all laying mash, I can feed one part mash and one part whole corn. Or I can feed one part mash and two parts whole corn. This is what the price difference would be:
All layer mash.... $46.00/mo.
1 part mash, 1 part corn.... $33.00/mo.
1 part mash, 2 parts corn.... $28.67/mo.
1 part mash, 1 part corn, 1 part free food.... $22.00/mo.
What is free food? Every day I take a bowl of kitchen scraps down to my hens. If there aren't very many scraps, I add some rotting produce from the garden or a few fallen apples from the orchard. They love apples, and we have plenty of them.
With this even lower feed cost ($22.00/mo) and saving $5.00+/mo. by butchering a chicken, the new cost for keeping my chickens is $17.00 per month. Obviously the cost per egg is going to be much cheaper.
1 egg per day... $0.55 per egg
2 eggs.... $0.27 per egg
3 eggs.... $0.18 per egg
4 eggs.... $0.14 per egg
5 eggs.... $0.11 per egg
6 eggs.... $0.09 per egg
7 eggs.... $0.08 per egg
8 eggs.... $0.07 per egg
9 eggs.... $0.06 per egg
10 eggs.... $0.05 per egg
11 eggs.... $0.05 per egg
12 eggs.... $0.05 per egg
Eliminating Other Costs
The ONLY way you can actually come out ahead with chickens is if you eliminate most other costs- things like shelter. Some people literally pay thousands of dollars for a chicken coop. That is okay for special pets, but my chickens are not pets. We have made a little "chicken corner" in the barn where our goats hang out. This corner is where the feeder and egg boxes are. It prevents the goats from eating and getting sick from layer mash, and it also gives the hens somewhere to escape from the goats. Up on the barn wall (higher than the goats can reach) we have put a roost where the hens sleep at night. The chickens can also free range in the goat pasture (or other pastures, if they get out).
I do not lock the chickens up at night. Our orchard-style fencing deters critters, and the goats also act as guardians because they sleep in the same room as the hens. So far we have not lost any chickens to predators.
Keeping Chickens = Discount Eggs
Even following my frugal chicken care system, at best you will be receiving discount eggs. Instead of buying one dozen eggs every week for $1.75, you'll be "buying" almost four dozen eggs per week and paying $0.60 -$1.20 per dozen. It's still a good deal, especially if you want eggs from free-range chickens. But remember, if your egg spending goes up by $12 per month, you'll want to use your egg surplus to save money in some other food category. Buy less meat, perhaps. You can also use eggs to make your own mayonnaise and egg noodles.
Could Chickens Pay for Themselves?
We know now that it is possible to SAVE money by keeping chickens, but can the birds actually pay for themselves? How many dozen eggs would I have to sell each month to cover the cost of feed?
9 doz. @ $2.00/doz.
8 doz. @ $2.25/doz.
7 doz. @ $2.50/doz.
6 doz. @ $2.75/doz.
5 doz. @ $3.50/doz.
When I go to farmers markets next year to sell strawberries and apples and such, I'll bring along some eggs. If I'm able to sell two dozen eggs per week ($7.00), I'll actually be making $2.75 in profit after paying for a week's worth of feed. If I am still getting six eggs per day, Hubs and I will be able to keep 30 free eggs each week for our own use. It sounds like a good deal to me.
What I've said above makes sense, if you sell at a farmers market 52 weeks in a year. What is more likely is that you'll find one or two steady egg customers to buy a dozen every week, and maybe a stewing hen here or there. This scenario is doable for many people. I estimate that my three months of farmers market next year (12 weeks = $84) will be able to pay for almost five months of chicken care. The other seven months I will have to find another way to make money from my chickens.
But In Reality...
I'm putting up this post mostly as a goal and/or reference for myself. I hope it will be helpful for others as well. As I mentioned earlier, we are still paying around $2.00 per dozen, 2-3 dozen per week. This means we're spending twice as much on eggs as we did before we had chickens. In coming weeks I will be switching their food ration (1:1 mash/whole corn to 1:2 mash/whole corn) which should help lower costs. I'll also be looking for more thrifty ways to use my surplus of eggs.
Do you have chickens? Are they saving money or costing you?