Thursday, February 20, 2014

Building my Chicken Coop / Is it cost effective to have chickens?

I've been working on my chicken house lately. I am almost there.

Things that I still need to do:

  1. Paint the coop.
  2. Build an automatic chicken door that closes as opens by its self.
  3. Install the chicken wire.
  4. Install the feed container.
  5. Install a automatic water system.
  6. Put shingles on the roof.
  7. Buy the baby chicks. (I'm thinking about 12 birds)
  8. Need to buy a bale of hay.

This might seem like a lot to still get done but I can manage. I have spent a total of $12 on this coop. I found all the wood I needed from construction site dumpsters. I even pulled the nails from dumpster wood. 

Want to see my coop! Watch the video.

Coop Design:
  • 6 foot by 6 foot (36 sqf. of space).
  • Side roofs are hinged for easy opening.
    • designed for easy clean out of coop.
  • 4 lay boxes.
  • Will be raised off the ground.
  • I will place about 6 inches of hay on the floor of the coop.
    • This is for easy cleanup and for enhanced composting of the chicken waste.
    • This means I will need to clean the coop less often.
Return on Investment: Its worth it:)
  • Last year when I had chickens the average cost per dozen eggs was about 90 cents. I will let you know how much chicken eggs cost me this time around with more chickens.
  • ROI Calculation:
    • Cost per dozen eggs after egg production:
      • Total weekly cost / number of eggs produced * 12
    • ROI over the course of the First 12 Months
      • When Looking at Egg Production as a "Cash-flow" you can use the IRR function in excel.
      • Real Briefly explained: You take how much the coop and chickens cost and how much the net value of the egg production is over the first 12 months. For me I get a rate of return of 0% but the second year I see returns of 9%. That's better than the stock market on a good day. I am expecting to spend around $75 bucks on my coop and not seeing any eggs until fall. The average price for eggs in my area is about $3 per dozen.
Calculate the Return on Investment:

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