Free tool
What do my backyard eggs really cost?
Put in what you spend on feed, bedding and the coop itself. Get your cost per egg, how it compares with the store, and the month your setup pays for itself. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Estimates from your numbers. Laying drops in winter and during molt, and feed prices move, so revisit this a few times a year.
Spills and rodents usually take 10 to 20 percent of a bag. A treadle feeder is the most direct way to cut that cost.
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How the math works
The calculator turns everything into a monthly figure. Feed per hen per day times your hens gives daily feed; that times 30.4 days gives monthly feed, which is divided by the bag weight for bags per month and multiplied by the bag price. Add your other monthly costs and you have the month’s total.
Eggs per month is hens times eggs per hen per week times 4.35 weeks. Divide the monthly cost by the monthly eggs and you have the cost per egg; multiply by the pack size for the cost per dozen (or per 6, 10 or 30).
Savings compare what the same number of eggs would cost at your store price with what you actually spend. Break-even divides the one-time setup cost by the monthly savings to find how many months until the coop has paid for itself. If your eggs cost more than the store’s, there is no break-even at those prices, and the calculator says so.
Ways to lower your cost per egg
- Buy feed in the largest bag you can store dry. Price per pound usually drops a lot.
- Use a treadle or no-waste feeder. Spilled and rodent-eaten feed is often 10 to 20 percent of the bag.
- Keep the flock at the size you actually eat or sell. Retired hens still eat full rations.
- Compare against the eggs you would really buy. If you’d buy pasture-raised at $7 a dozen, use that price, not the cheapest carton.