2.5 sq. ft per bird is for tightly packed layer houses with debeaked chickens.
There is a difference between how many can I keep and showing a profit. To show a profit you have to sell the excess eggs. I'd start small and increase the size of your flock if you are consistently selling all of the eggs.
What you charge should first start with what it costs to produce the eggs. It costs far more than most people believe. You have to factor in everything that goes into the carton, including the carton itself. And remember that you feed chicks for at least 18 weeks before you see a single egg, and you feed them when they moult and aren't laying.
so I know this is a "per case" scenario but we also have a produce farm we are licensed by our state to sell produce and eggs. The website we have is for both. The tools IE wheel barrel and shovels and what not are used by both (and were owned before this venture started. So that should lower my per dozen overhead? MY wife is dealing with the books and business I am just raising chickens and working dirt. We are school teachers and want to develop a business solely for our three sons to have jobs at home through high school the plan is to manage it and let them earnm for themselves without needing a ride to work. also What is "egg wash soap" ive not heard of that.
so how many birds do you have? I dont see much overhead to this myself. I have built a run or about half of it. The coop or hen house was just a matter of preadator proofing one of my barn stalls $30 in poultry wire. the tools i have had for years no expense there and I hatched the eggs in an incubator that belongs to my school and in my classroom no expense there. I did by the eggs to hatch $12.50 for 5 dozen eggs got 20 birds out of the hatch. I built feedewrs from pvc two of them each hold 15 pounds of feed and a waterewr from a 5 gal bucket and a pan (thank God for hydrodynamics) $5 there.I can't fully agree with everything on WalkingOnSunshine's list.
oyster shell
grit
If you get oyster shell you don't need grit.
dewormer
Only if you have a worm problem. We never have.
hen house
Depends on the weather where you live. Here in Central Texas a little shelter that I made from scrap lumber is all they need.
run
Fencing, sure, but the run itself?
feeders
You can make your own.
wheel barrow
Already owned one, but use it infrequently for the chickens. Usually just a bucket is all we need.
shovel
ibid.
perches
Built some, but they don't use them much.
nest boxes
We use plastic milk crates on a frame built out of scrap lumber.
carton labels
Not required here, so it depends on the laws where you are. I did print up some business cards on card stock that we usually include it the cartons.
egg wash soap
Only if you wash your eggs. Our customers expect dirty eggs.
marketing materials, like sign at the end of the drive and what you spend registering your URL if you have a blog
Our sign I made out of scrap lumber. Did have to buy a couple of quarts of paint, and it's a onetime expense. We don't have a blog so...
Money spent to register as a business
Again, depends on the laws where you live. Here in Texas, as long as we just sell from our home we don't need one.
Of course, if you want to any expenses are tax deductible, but than you'll have to list the income as well. We operate under the theory that what the taxman doesn't know doesn't hurt him.
Our girls have been profitable for over 2 years now, and have even bailed us out a couple of times in cash emergencies.
