How to calculate how much eggs are costing?

[rottlady]

Both mother hen app and flockplenty app will calculate cost per doz eggs as well as feed consumption

 

[bjmoose]

Ah, I suspected someone would bite on that...

Anyhow, if you *want* to depreciate it over a longer interval, IRS guidelines for purpose specific farm structures allow (require) a depreciation interval of 10 years... (Non purpose specific structures actually have a 20 year interval...)

Like I said, it's a shortcut rule of thumb. If you're really setting up for the long haul, (and you build it well!) your coop will outlast your hens.

Conversely, a lot of small businesses will take advantage of section 179 and depreciate pretty much all their "fixed costs" in the year in which they're incurred. If your coop is like mine, and isn't a "permanent structure" you ought to be able to justify that.

And, as always, I'm not an actual accountant. And you shouldn't get your accounting advice from anonymous sources on the internet anyway...

 

[Betsy57]

I am trying to figure out how much a dozen eggs cost me to produce. Does anyone know how to do this? I am thinking that you could monitor how much feed is fed per week and how many eggs I get in that same length of time. I don't know how to calculate the numbers or if that will give me what I want. What do ya'll think?

I user Razin's Chicken Tracker. VERY helpful! Been using it for years thanks for his wife and Razin.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...enses-and-income-from-chickens.124260/page-47

 

[bruceha2000]

Oh come on Moose, if we can't trust strangers on the internet, who CAN we trust??

10 years huh? Have to wonder who came up with that one. Build a million dollar milk barn and HAVE to depreciate it at $100K a year?

 

[ScottKelly1974]

I would calculate the cost of all food and water, including any additional things. Bedding last such a long time, and that just does not make an impact for me. Once you have the land and the enclosure, amortize that over the life of the chickens. Food and water, including supplements and treats, are your most pressing costs. They will carry the bulk of your calculations. If you raise them from chicks include those costs over the life of the chicken. The cost you pay for the chicken will also be added into the total costs over the life of the chicken. If you get chicks, then the sale of those chicks should help in paying for the overall expenses.

Calculating all the money you put into the flock and all the money you receive from any products are monies you take into account when figuring the cost off the eggs you consume yourself.

 

[wcbpolish]

Nobody wants duck eggs around here, nobody.

A guy I met gave me a tip: He said take several dozen duck eggs with you, go to a few local Asian restaurants and ask if you can post a sign in the breakroom about duck eggs for sale, and according to him, you'll probably sell every egg before you're done.

I keep my duck eggs posted on Craig's List. I have a handful of customers who have sensitivities to chicken eggs, and the rest of my customers are of Asian descent - most are first generation immigrants who speak broken English.

Just some ideas for marketing duck eggs

 

[K813ZRA]

A guy I met gave me a tip: He said take several dozen duck eggs with you, go to a few local Asian restaurants and ask if you can post a sign in the breakroom about duck eggs for sale, and according to him, you'll probably sell every egg before you're done.

I keep my duck eggs posted on Craig's List. I have a handful of customers who have sensitivities to chicken eggs, and the rest of my customers are of Asian descent - most are first generation immigrants who speak broken English.

Just some ideas for marketing duck eggs

Thank you for the tips. Sadly, no Asian restaurants around here. Then again, the only thing we have in the closest town is the local diner. The next town over is lucky enough to actually have a post office! Lol...

Totally different pace from when I lived in the city in Spain. But...I grew up in this area so I knew what to expect when I moved here.

I can not say that nobody wants the duck eggs, the ducks eat them when I feed them back to them.

 

[bruceha2000]

I've heard duck eggs are especially good for baking, don't remember why though.

 

[spangledcornish]

here is a breakeven calculator https://richland.uwex.edu/agriculture/poultry-and-rabbits/

 

[wcbpolish]

I can not say that nobody wants the duck eggs, the ducks eat them when I feed them back to them.

That is a great use of the protein (not economical in the long run though). I have a friend who raises fancy breeds. He throws away the eggs that he doesn't plan to eat or hatch. I keep telling him to feed them back to the birds (even if he scrambles them first!!!) but he's set in his ways.
I feed my cracked/broken eggs back to the birds. I also feed the clears after 1 week of incubation back to the birds. I smash them up even more and stir them into the feed so they don't look like eggs.

I've heard duck eggs are especially good for baking, don't remember why though.

The whites are more "rubbery" and I think they have a higher fat content overall...