Jynestia
In the Brooder
- Mar 26, 2015
- 51
- 12
- 43
Hi everyone! I know I am still super new, but I wanted to contribute this pricing table I created; especially since I created it by combining the advice found here at BYC.
Short background as to why I put this together:
I just got my flock, and I have people coming at me like crazy asking for eggs. This didn't surprise me *much*. What did surprise me was the people offering to buy my laying hens! They aren't even laying hens yet, but apparently there are a lot of people out there that are willing to pay someone so they can skip the brooding phase. I happen to really enjoy the brooding! I also have plans for all of my hens, I don't have any to spare. So I agreed to buy more chicks, raise them to the appropriate age, and sell them. I have 10 acres I am building into a farm right now, and dedicated one of my bathrooms to brooding. I have the space.
My next question is what do I charge for such a thing? Well I happen to work in business and my job is cost control, vendor negotiations/relationships, and competitive pricing. I *live* in excel. So I spent the last couple days researching everything to do with what it costs to raise a chicken from 1 to 24 weeks, and how much people are charging on average. I turned it into a spreadsheet that I am particularly proud of. As an analyst geek of sorts it nearly brought tears to my eyes lol!
Here it is. See below on how to read it. Please enjoy, this information is free for all to use. I have it in Excel still for anyone interested. The purple numbers on this spreadsheet indicate those numbers can be adjusted to change the outcome.
It is currently set up for my purposes. This is for a basic breed chicken, with utility costs in my county and prices in my county. The labor is not actually added in on the table itself in this instance, even though I made a section for it.
Look in the yellow highlighted columns to see the cost of raising the bird on both organic non-GMO feed and standard Nutrena feed. Look in the pricing columns to see approximately how much to charge for them. The margin box in the second image is how much of the total price is gross profit to you. Bear in mind this is before you have paid yourself for your time, and your time is valuable! The biggest mistake of small businesses and new entrepreneurs is underselling themselves.
In the feed cost table you'll see the approximate cost to feed the bird for that week, then the very next column shows you the total dollar value in food that bird will have eaten up to that point. This table can also help you calculate how much to feed your flock. This assumes that feed is their only source of food. Mine get to range outside on 10 acres, and I don't actually measure their food. I let them eat until they are full.
If there are any questions about it let me know. And let me know what you think
Short background as to why I put this together:
I just got my flock, and I have people coming at me like crazy asking for eggs. This didn't surprise me *much*. What did surprise me was the people offering to buy my laying hens! They aren't even laying hens yet, but apparently there are a lot of people out there that are willing to pay someone so they can skip the brooding phase. I happen to really enjoy the brooding! I also have plans for all of my hens, I don't have any to spare. So I agreed to buy more chicks, raise them to the appropriate age, and sell them. I have 10 acres I am building into a farm right now, and dedicated one of my bathrooms to brooding. I have the space.
My next question is what do I charge for such a thing? Well I happen to work in business and my job is cost control, vendor negotiations/relationships, and competitive pricing. I *live* in excel. So I spent the last couple days researching everything to do with what it costs to raise a chicken from 1 to 24 weeks, and how much people are charging on average. I turned it into a spreadsheet that I am particularly proud of. As an analyst geek of sorts it nearly brought tears to my eyes lol!
Here it is. See below on how to read it. Please enjoy, this information is free for all to use. I have it in Excel still for anyone interested. The purple numbers on this spreadsheet indicate those numbers can be adjusted to change the outcome.
It is currently set up for my purposes. This is for a basic breed chicken, with utility costs in my county and prices in my county. The labor is not actually added in on the table itself in this instance, even though I made a section for it.
Look in the yellow highlighted columns to see the cost of raising the bird on both organic non-GMO feed and standard Nutrena feed. Look in the pricing columns to see approximately how much to charge for them. The margin box in the second image is how much of the total price is gross profit to you. Bear in mind this is before you have paid yourself for your time, and your time is valuable! The biggest mistake of small businesses and new entrepreneurs is underselling themselves.
In the feed cost table you'll see the approximate cost to feed the bird for that week, then the very next column shows you the total dollar value in food that bird will have eaten up to that point. This table can also help you calculate how much to feed your flock. This assumes that feed is their only source of food. Mine get to range outside on 10 acres, and I don't actually measure their food. I let them eat until they are full.
If there are any questions about it let me know. And let me know what you think
