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How Much Does That Egg Cost??? — 12 Comments

  1. While I was reading along, I was beginning to wonder if you had kept track of how many eggs they’ve laid! If you’re like me, you just remember the stretches of time where almost all of them were laying every day.
    But one thing that you cannot put a price on is the effect on your girls. Besides learning responsibility in caring for God’s creatures, they learn not to be afraid of them and to handle them gently. I have fond memories of little boy Benjamin sprinkling chicken scratch around the yard, all the while talking to the chickens as they followed him around. Priceless!

    • Glad I’m not the only one who can remember good runs of production and bad. Both of our girls talk and sing to the chickens too. I was just standing at the door the other day watching our oldest with the chickens. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but as animated as she was it must have been a funny story. She then began singing to them. Great memories!

  2. You would reduce your cost per egg even more if you factored OUT the dog attack disruption to laying production. Before it they were, as I recall laying 3 a day. Add in those potential eggs in your numbers and I wouldn’t be surprised if your cost per egg is almost down to Kroger’s price.

  3. Wow! Thanks for the gourmet eggs! I didn’t know you also sold them, I will start doing my egg shopping next door!

    • Give us a few months Lisa. Right now we’re just barely popping out an egg a day over here. Once the two chicks grow up we’ll be back to ‘overflow’ status. 🙂

  4. I enjoyed this post and had to laugh at the bill tally. We had chickens for a while, had no idea how much it cost to maintain our little operation, but the kids loved the responsibility. It made the cost worth it each morning when they would go grab an egg for breakfast.

    • Thanks Ashley! I know it was a bit silly to tabulate this all but that is the budget side of my brain at play. You’re absolutely right, the memories with the kids are priceless. Our circle of friends gets a real big kick out of the chickens too.

  5. Interesting how the costs are not really worth the effort, but the hobby makes it fun. It is the same with my garden, nothing interesting grows there and after 3 months of effort I just have a few potatoes to show for, but I enjoy working on it.
    I was also surprised that your feed and animal costs are very similar to Guatemala, where everything is usually much cheaper.

    • I thought that was interesting too Pauline! We definitely enjoy our chickens and with young children in the house I believe we are teaching valuable lessons about where food comes from and how truly precious it is. I’m with you on the garden too. We have lots of spinach and carrots, but everything else I planted this season has failed. I enjoy the challenge and the fresh taste of homegrown veggies.

  6. Pingback: The Most Bang For Your Buck: Homegrown Vegetables - Dad Is Learning

  7. Just happened along your blog when I was looking for a picture of a full grown silkie for mine LOL, I just got 5 baby chicks and wanted to show what they will look like grown and you had the best picture so I used it crediting you (but I can remove it if you mind). I like your blog. I’m a member of backyardchickens.com and too many people don’t do the chicken math. We have chicks and have already spent $79 for them and their supplies. They were $5 each, then we had to buy a heat lamp and bulbs, feeder, waterer, and feed! Plus since they are chicks no eggs for 6+ months, and we still have to pay for some materials for their chicken tractor (although if you read my blog we will do it on the cheap for under $100).

  8. In the middle of the summer when the hens were laying well we started calculating how much it actually cost us per egg for consumables as well. We had been charging $2.50 per dozen. It turned out that the feed and bedding for the coop cost us about $2.50 a dozen during their prime laying time. So we increased our price for fresh eggs to $3.00 a dozen and have had no problem selling them. We felt we needed to at least re-coup our investment in the consumables. At the local farmers market which they run all summer in our town they charge $4-$5 a dozen and sell out every week. So I don’t feel badly about charging $3.00 a dozen, when the taste and freshness of our eggs beats grocery store eggs every day. It is definitely a different product you are offering than what is bought from factory farms in the store.

    Another thing we did was started buying our food in bulk from the local farmers co-op, instead of in bags from Tractor Supply Company. That has saved us some as well, but it means we have to have a place to store 250 pounds of feed at once. But we currently have 18 chickens so we go through it quicker than you would.

    But I would agree with other comments that it is hard to put a price on fresh eggs, on the interaction with animals that your kids get, and their responsibility for taking care of a living creature. Many families have dogs who only eat and require vet bills, and do not lay eggs. At least with chickens, they give you something edible in return for the money and time you spend on them. We feed our chickens all of the kitchen scraps and garden waste, so we reduce the amount going to the landfill as well.