How to calculate the cost of one egg and your profit
Updated · DoroSync / Kennaa Tech
Cost of one egg = all the month's costs ÷ eggs collected in the month. Include feed, labour, rent, power, vaccines, medicine, transport and losses. That figure is your break-even price: sell above it to make a profit. Profit a month = eggs sold × price − all costs.
A worked example
1,000 hens laying 85% give 850 eggs a day, 25,500 a month. They eat 115 g a day: 34.5 quintals a month. If feed costs 8,800 birr a quintal, feed is about 303,600 birr. With 40,000 birr of other costs, the month costs 343,600 birr, so one egg costs about 13.5 birr. Sell at 15 birr and the profit is about 38,900 birr; sell at 13 birr and the farm loses money.
The prices here are only an example — use your own in the calculator.
What raises the cost of an egg
- A higher feed price, or feed wasted from feeders
- A lower laying rate (old flock, disease, heat, poor feed)
- Birds dying or being stolen
- Eggs broken, eaten at home or given away without being counted
Know it every month
Prices of feed and eggs change every month in Ethiopia. Work out your cost per egg every month, not once. DoroSync shows it continuously from your records, with the lowest price you can sell at and whether each flock has paid for itself.
These figures are a guide, not advice. Feed, prices and diseases differ from farm to farm: check with your veterinarian and use your own records.