Cost Breakdown

Double Egg Yolk Across the Pan
What does it mean? So intense! Lol, if you’ve never seen “Yosemite Double Rainbow” on YouTube, you’re missing out! We did start out yesterday with a double yolk. Not from one of our chickens yet of course, but from my uncle who gets his eggs from a guy at work and this one was huge (pics below). He actually gave it to Grandma who gave it to us because she knows Gabi loves double yolk eggs. I hope I keep my chickens happy and that they provide me with many double yolks. Maybe not everyone gets such a kick out of it, but we do!  Only the large egg was in the pan at the time of this picture... it actually almost looks like a triple yolk!!

Raising chickens is fun, educational, and good for your health, but does it save money? Below is a breakdown of our costs thus far. I’ll continue to track the numbers (and the eggs!) to see where our breakeven point is. With 8 chickens, I’m expecting 200 +/- eggs per month, and we will be selling the surplus. For accounting purposes, the eggs we eat will be valued at $3/doz because we currently buy Eggland’s Best, which costs more than that. The surplus eggs will be sold for $2/doz.

One Time Costs
Chicken Feeder - purchased last year (approx $3)
Chicken Waterer - purchased last year (approx $5)
Heat Lamp - purchased last year (approx $15-20)
Heat Lamp Bulb - purchased last year (approx $6)
Brooder Box

• Wood purchased at Surplus Sale - $4.22
• Stainless steel purchased at Surplus Sale - $4.13
• Hardware and chicken wire - $29.02

Chicken Coop

• Wood purchased at Surplus Sale - $15.03
• Stainless steel purchased at Surplus Sale - $12.16
• Hardware - $8.13

The heat lamp bulb isn’t truly a one time cost, but I don’t how long it will last. It’s predominately used during the brooder box phase. If the winter is especially harsh, it may be put in the coop above the water to keep it from freezing.

We don‘t yet know the final cost of the coop. We got a ton of wood and awesome locks for $15 at the Surplus Sale, but we’ll definitely be needing more chicken wire and maybe additional hardware. When building a coop or brooder box, it’s obviously most economical to reuse wood. The “Surplus Sale” for local companys usually have good deals. Another place to find cheap wood is construction sites or Craigslist. Purchasing wood from a store will make the costs skyrocket. Buying a kit or a ready-built coop is the most expensive option. Coops big enough for 8 chickens can easily go for $1000+. If anyone does end up purchasing chicks, I’m sure Mitch would be more than happy to help with the coop designing/building.

All this wood for $15

Recurring Costs
Wood shavings - $7.71 (every 2-3mos)
8 RIR Pullets - $23.09 (every 2-4yrs depending on breed, if you put a light on so they have heavy production through winter, etc.)
Chick Starter food - $9.11 (unknown)
Permit - $25 (yearly for our area)

Our total costs for 2011 so far- $112.60

I don’t know how often we’ll have to purchase chicken food. I’m going to plant a good sized garden bed for chicken fodder complete with 50+ sunflowers, clover, and alfalfa to name a few. It’s healthier for the chickens to be eating living food plus it is cheaper. My goal is to eventually have the entire chicken production completely independent of processed/store bought food. Soon I plan to write about the chicken diet and what to plant to grow for chicken feed, but my very next post will be on the Dave Ramsey Live Event!