Can you break even with chickens costwise

Hubby and I have been arguing on whether a person can break even on the expense of keeping chickens. I was wondering what everyone thinks. Are you making money, breaking even, or loosing money? I am thinking with the cost of feed electricity, ect compared to the sales of chicks, eggs, older birds. If you feel you are making money or breaking even, can you let me know what all you are doing eg. selling chicks, selling eating eggs, selling hatching eggs. Hubby does not want me to get serious about the chickens unless I can at least be close to breaking even. I am thinking my chicken hobby can't be costing me as much as his cigarettes are costing, but maybe that is because his "hobby" is a pet peeve of mine! LOL

I know that I don't make money and would not even come close to breaking even. This is not a business for me but a passion. I love breeding and want to breed the best quality I can. I also love the birds for the birds, the eggs are a great bonus. Don't even think of it as a business, purely something for me that I enjoy and like I say the cockerels in the freezer and the eggs are all bonuses.

From my experience...this question is not so easy to answer.

In the summer your birds can free range for some of their food and are laying eggs likes crazy and you have customers willing to pay a good rate ($3 or better) for your eggs, then I think yes, you are breaking even.

But in the winter those same birds cannot forage, so feed cost rises, heat cost rises, they likely lay less so you have less to sell. So...sometimes yes and sometimes no.

This is why many big poultry barns ditch thier birds at 18 months, they are past their peek laying and the cost of each egg rises as the bird continues to eat, but produces less.

Factor in if you eat your spent layers or sell them as stewing hens. Around here people will only pay the princely sum of about $2 for a 'spent' layer, although not all birds are created equal and not all birds are done at 18 months.

This takes some tricky math to figure out because there are many variables you can factor in or out when determining profit (or not). Either way, no one ever made an omelette out of a pack of smokes. You win!

The equation gets pretty complex real quickly. We often feel that our sales pay for our eggs, but there some enjoyment or socializing involved as I make Sunday trips to Sun Peaks to sell eggs and enjoy the musicians they hire for the market. That is very likely cheaper than anybody's smoking habit. Half a dozen years ago our daughter and boyfriend were smokers. For interest sake we calculated their smoking cost and our cost for feeding a few head of cattle. The cattle were cheaper and tasted better.

Our eggs are a big part of our income for farm status. Farm status means cheaper taxes, being able to have two homes on one property which helps with child care, and cheaper fuel. We have other farm products which we eat and sell occasionally as well.

coopslave wrote:I know that I don't make money and would not even come close to breaking even. This is not a business for me but a passion. I love breeding and want to breed the best quality I can. I also love the birds for the birds, the eggs are a great bonus. Don't even think of it as a business, purely something for me that I enjoy and like I say the cockerels in the freezer and the eggs are all bonuses.

^ Same here.

I’ll never get back all the money or paid for time I have invested in my birds, but that’s ok because that isn’t why I have them. Birds are a passion/hobby for me, not an income. That being said, it should be easy to make money with chickens. Now if you’re talking about making a profit, that’s a whole other story. And one I have yet to figure out.

I have dogs and cats and horses that don't and won't ever come close to bringing in anything to offset their costs. I consider myself blessed that I can sell some eggs and mutt laying hens, and eat some excess roosters. My chickens provide me with food in a few ways, and enjoyment in numerous ones. I think the dogs should be getting a little nervous right about now, and the horses should be looking for a paper route job!!

We spend close to $105 per month on dog food for 3 dogs. Our 3 Highlanders eat a just a bit more than large bale of hay per month at a $100 per bale. The chickens get about $150 to $200 per month but they often come close to paying their own feed bill plus we have lots of eggs for our own use. The cattle get some grain that is not included with the hay cost, but they share grain with the cows. Some months the chickens buy the grain with egg sales. On the other hand we have to drive to sell eggs and we haven't included that.

Our grandchildren share the care of our livestock and that probably is a factor above and beyond the cost to keep a chicken.

Last year we made $50. Spent $7,950 on feed, chicks, supplies, fencing; took in $8,000 from egg, meat, and pullet sales. No labour included in those figures, which REALLY begs the question.

But we got lots of good eggs and home-grown chicken to eat, hours of entertainment, and a small sense of satisfaction for enhancing food self-sufficiency on our island.
The farm status is a big factor; that saves us a couple of thousand $, easily.

Smokeyriver I am in the same boat with hubby.He thinks its all a little crazzy! We do get farm status which save us $2700 a year in taxes and thats great.

I raised my egg prices last year to try and break even with grain costs and its a little closer.

I have studied my feed costs and I am hoping to be a little more cost effective mostly buying in bulk will help with that.

This year I plan to sell hatching eggs, chicks and some pullets. We will also do meat birds again. I am hoping this year that I might actually be able to pay for all the animals with the extra sales. The $18 to $36 a dozen for fertile eggs vs table eggs is huge. For the most part we have all our equipment, fencing etc ready to go with hopefully minimal building needed this year. Of course its not included in costs. I figure over the years that stuff will pay for itsself.

I think the initial cost output is large but if its something you plan to continue it should eventually pay for itself.

I also look at it as an enjoyable hobby and provide my children with a life not too many get to experience anymore. Now how many kids (around here anyways) come to school on monday morning to tell their teacher we got new pets! What did you get she asks? 4 ducks!! I love it

Break even... no, not if you only view the poultry as an entity all their own without factoring in other aspects of my life.

I don't smoke, hardly drink and don't gamble. I don't run to pool halls, golf courses or ski hills and I don't spend money on sports tickets, fancy gadgets and pimping out our car. They keep me in the back yard where I don't get into (much) trouble.

I feel it is a fine line between making money, breaking even or losing money on your poultry.
You need to have enough birds to be able to sell eggs to cover your feed costs. In my opinion just selling eggs will not make you profit, possily break even but not a profit.
I make my profits on chicks and hatching eggs. There is a lot of work involved in that and I do not pay myself a wage. I do however factor in all the feed costs, power costs, and equipment costs. I also add in the costs to take birds to sales and other events. In the end I make a small profit, enough to put towards a few things for the birds or the farm.
We cut corners in costs by buying in bulk, we buy all our feed in bulk, we buy our shavings by the pallet load (around 40 bales at a time), and I look for sales on equipment and buy it when I can. We have also gone to auctions to get equipment, sanatized it well and have gotten some good bargains there.

Edited to add that you may make a PROFIT if...

Yes, if you are a well run hatchery.

Yes if you are a well known esablished breeder of poultry and you have a huge clientele and you ship eggs, birds and chicks on a regular basis. (But then how much money did you spend to get there?)

Yes if you buy from hatcheries and turn the chicks over within a couple weeks or if you frequent sales and auctions, buying low and selling high with a quick turnover (Kind of like a bird broker. I have seen birds for sale a week after an auction still in the same box they bere bought in- making me wonder if they ever got out of that box?)

Maybe if you have a rare breed that you got cheaply and many egg and chick customers.

Maybe if you have a large self-supporting farm and can produce a lot of your own feed.

No if your only source of income from the birds is eggs.

No if you are like me and treat it as a hobby. When I undertake a hobby, the best I hope for is to break even but I certainly don't expect to.

I mostly don't know/don't want to know what the profit (or not) is in keeping the chickens. At the beginning I figured I had to sell chicks or eggs in order to pay for some of my startup costs and infrastructure but now I have it in place (mostly) and it is paid for I don't feel as much pressure to "make it pay".

That being said I think there must be a way to figure out the part you should focus on givent the strengths and weaknesses of your farm/particular situation in order to spend more time doing the things you like the best and in specializing on that part of it, hopefully be able to bring in a profit.

For example, if you mostly enjoy having a healthy flock of layers, collecting the eggs and getting the satisfaction of passing on the healthy benefits to others in the form of your own fresh eggs, and you can plan a delivery route that is convenient to you that may be the way to go. Your main investments may be in a good insulated layer barn for your chooks and a reliable vehicle to deliver eggs with.

On the other hand, if you prefer the excitement of hatching chicks and selling them to people who want to start their own flocks that may be the way to specialize for you. Your investments will be in good incubators and brooder facilities.

I haven't cost checked this but I have a strong feeling that the profits in raising chicks peaks at about 1 week old and decreases quickly as you feed them/care for them up to 6 weeks or even more. People may pay $8-10/chick at 1 week yet may complain about paying $16/chick for a 6 week old. I think the labour and brooder facilities needed to give them adequate space and care up to 6 weeks of age is quite expensive.

Selling fertilized eggs seems like an easy way to maximize returns but you do have to be willing to deal with fertility issues/packaging and shipping concerns and the consumer who may or may not be experienced at hatching eggs yet expects to get 100% hatchability. This is best for the patient people person I think.

If you are a dedicated breeder that wants to only pass on stock that meets their particular standards you may prefer to keep your stock until they mature and sell them as started trios or pairs. You will get a higher price for your stock but you have to have the facilities to raise 3X that number of birds all summer in order to allow for proper selection. That is a lot of labour to care for them for 6 months or so and absorb any loss that may occur along the way.

If you choose the best fit for your particular situation and focus on the particular angle that you enjoy the most it should allow you to maximize the profits and enjoy doing it at th same time..I still haven't figured that out yet myself but I think you can't know which part works best for you until you have tried all the different angles first...

I really don't think you can make money and be happy doing it all!

YOu will end up overextended and having huge outlay costs.

But I do know on some level having the "chicken business" is a good fit for me and my family right now!

Miry that was very well put!

Fowler I look at it along the same lines as you do. I don't smoke, drink, run around, drive a fancy vehicle (actually people laugh when they see my poor van as it has no front, back bumpers and the passenger headlight is taped in place with clear duct tape), hardly ever go shopping for myself (when I say hardly ever it is when I no longer have socks that my toes are not sticking out of or holes in other articles of clothing that I just cannot repair anymore) I must say I am a very low-maintenence woman, so he should not really complain on my chicken hobby. He seems to figure that we need to at least cover costs and with everything that went on this past year for me we lost money big time. When I consider the cost of eggs, and the birds I did pick up from Performance and lost the majority of them. I told him he had to look at it the same way he used to look at the horses I had when we first got married. They were my passion other than family. I ended up selling all of them, but only because I had children and did not have time to deal with them. I am not willing to fully back down on this. I am going to figure out which breeds I really want to start with, and go for a couple breeds of each the chicken, turkey, ducks and geese. If anyone has any suggestions as to which breeds to go with, please let me know. I have my two duck breeds they will be muscovies and blue swedish, but mainly because they are what I have right now. I know I want Pilgrim geese, but not sure on the other breed. Turkeys will be bourbon red and royal palm. So my choices on the chickens are lavender orpington, blue copper marans, salmon faverole, and silkies, but any suggestions would be appreciated. I will keep 4 breeds of chickens. Thanks for all your input. I did make a large purchase I am buying a sportsman incubator and hatcher so will be able to hatch eggs and sell chicks on top of eating eggs, and any excess eggs.

If I am looking at breeds that won't sell very easily please let me know, as I do want to cover at least some of the cost! I know I already have sales of approximately 3-4 dozen per week just from one family. They have told me just to let them know when I start getting enough eggs to sell. Right now I have a real mix of birds. I also have silver laced wyandottes, but they are hatchery stock. I will also have hatchery leghorns for eggs (hubby's choice of bird).

I'm not really big into it but I do see the darker eggs being quite popular as well as the blue and green. People buying chicks for a flock often like the green/blue layers for the novelty.

For the rest, seems to be luck of the draw. I know someone who used to sell Barred Rock chicks and there never seemed to be a rhyme or reason to demand from year to year. It went up and down.

The breeds you have listed will all lay eggs for you. However, they are not the breeds I would count on for a steady supply of edible sale eggs. That is unless you are planning to have lots of birds. Compared to layers, the feed to egg numbers doesn't even come close!!! If you plan on making your money by selling the eggs for hatching, well than that might be different!
First off, you have to have the demand for those breeds in your area, or you have to be willing to ship the eggs or travel to sales and such. This in it self creates a few more obstacles!

smokyriver, why don't you start another thread with the questions you have. I will be interested to hear what others have to say. I think it will get more action on its own rather than hidden here.