Chickens, You May Stay

I have been keeping careful records to see which of the things we are doing are profitable and which aren't. This month, I am happy to report, our chickens made it into the black. They had a bit of catching up to do since we had to spend some money on making their pen, but they have now laid their way into our pocketbook.


Here are some figures from our chicken endeavor up until the beginning of October.

Chickens and Eggs

6 old hens = free from Ethan's uncle. One died. Replaced it but new one didn't blend in. Gave it away. We now have 5 old hens.

Eggs laid = 798

Eggs given away to friends, family, and people who helped us in some way = 13 1/2 dozen

Eggs we kept and ate = 53 dozen

Materials

Given by friends, family and businesses = waterer, feeder, grit feeder, old boards and tin, old wire, nesting bedding, nesting buckets

bought = remaining wire, hardware and wood $42.25


Feed

bought 100 lbs chicken feed(2 different mixes) = $20.32 of feed

chicken feed given by Ethan's uncle = about 150 lbs

free = kitchen scraps and leftovers (no poultry products to avoid disease)

provided by God's creation while we moved the pen daily = fresh grass and bugs (about 30% of diet)

So here is how I figured that the chickens have now made it into the black. We spent $62.57 on them by the end of October. We kept 53 dozen eggs for ourselves by the end of October. When we first started keeping chickens, eggs were selling for $1.25/doz at the grocery store. 53 dozen eggs would be worth $66.25, more than what we have in them. I feel that I am being conservative though, since I didn't count the 13 1/2 dozen eggs we gave away, nor did I adjust the price of eggs according to what they are selling at now. Last time I was in the grocery store, medium eggs were going for $1.87/doz and large eggs over $2.00/doz. (I think I need to keep a better eye on prices to help our records be more accurate - this time it was in our favor.)

Keep in mind too, that this is comparing our chicken eggs to the price of store eggs. I don't believe that store eggs should be able to be considered as equal due to the vast nutritional differences in the eggs, but I did for the sake are argument. I also didn't add in the services the chickens provide of thatching the lawn, fertilizing the lawn (and garden), pest control, and being conversation starters.

You might notice that we were given a lot of things and might argue that I should add those into expenses. Well, the way we view farming is to keep your inputs low to make your profits high. If you are able to do that by being innovative and by asking around for scrap materials and unused equipment from people you know (or don't know!), then it will have an effect on your profits. I believe that should be shown and not hidden.

We are now trying to get them ready to winter over. It will be interesting to see if they are worth keeping over the winter when they don't have grass and bugs available to eat and when egg production slows down. We are also continuing to experiment with different feeds. We have noticed a difference in egg production and rate of feed consumed with the 3 different feeds we have tried. The feed Ethan's uncle gave us is by far the best. Another thing we might do is get a new batch of younger birds in the spring.

So there you go. Now we are in the black with our chickens. We celebrated by eating omelets for supper and plan on having chickens again next year.

Next to get in the black, the cows . . .