Monday, November 1, 2010

October Monthly chicken financials

I made -$42.67 for the month on an average 27 hens laying (all my hens are now in except for the blue layers and they are now four months old, so in two more months they should start laying, beginning of new year). (for the year my net income is -$10.16/month (going negative again.). (For the year I am-$101.59 total).  I had $46.18 in expenses for feed (250#) this month (50# more feed than last month and about $10 more).  I had an extra $63.99 in expenses for a new chicken light and 440# of wood pellets to use as litter inside my coop, it should be enough for the next year.  For the year, my monthly expenses are $72.03. We collected a total of 358 usable eggs (3 less than last month) averaging 13.6 eggs/day collected (for the year the average is 12.1). The chickens ate 0.59#food/egg (for the year are averaging 0.64#/egg) In October it cost $0.11/egg or $1.32/doz for feed (my yearly average is $0.14/egg or $1.68/dozen. This is starting to creep up due to my feed costs increasing.  It will get pretty high when the snow hits.)  
You can see I was down over $42 this month due to purchasing the light and litter.  Those needed to happen.  I have been seriously considering the automatic chicken door again.  We found the motor only online for $75.  I can install it inside the chicken coop (they recommend you attach it to a timer, I may attach it to a light sensor, but I may need an electronic switch if I do that, will require more research.)  In May I had 33 chickens laying eggs, 6 months later and I only have 27.  The predators brutalized me this year.  I am going to pick up some more live traps.  I need to knock down the predator issue.  This will of course just put me farther in to the red.  But I expect this to be all needed hardware.  
I will get babies again in January.  That way they will be laying come Summer.  I may even wait till February, so that they will be able to use the yard when they get big enough.  I want to buy another 24 pullets.  That will put me over 50 hens.  That is the max I can have in my coop, plus I will be getting over 3 doz eggs/day with that many chickens.  
I will still need a chicken size door on the outside of the chicken run.  I will leave it open all the time except when we leave town.  The sheep keep going into the chicken yard and drinking all the water, knocking over the water dishes and eating all the grass.  Another chicken door will stop that.  
So know that I have my plan for the next year we will see how things go...

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