Mike should start his own channel for homeschool businesses for kids. He spoke to this young man with respect. That is not common but it should be. 👊🐔🥚❤️
This was awesome. I always struggle with farm pricing. I've been selling mine for $4/dozen and I feed a completely organic feed. I now realize that I need to go back and re-evaluate my cost. Thank you for this so much and definitely would enjoy seeing more of accountant Mike.
This episode was FABULOUS! Accountant Mike did awesome and is wonderful interacting with children! This is the most informative homesteading channel around!
what a great lesson for your son Austin and Kay!! Your best friend was wonderful taking the time with your son. And your son was so encouraged!! Loved it!! Sharing!!
I think an Accountant Mike section or Q & A episode is a great idea... So many people, myself included, have dreams of having a little farm and making it sustainable, or at least partially so, and we have no clue how to make that happen..
Spent years raising chickens for eggs. Got tired of selling eggs for nothing. We’re expanding what we do in to other things. Glad to know he’d be up for helping figure that stuff out. Great video!
I'm a huge finance nerd and I looooooooooove this episode! Accountant Mike Rocks! And your son seems sharp and like he's gonna go places! I love this content!
This was a wonderful video. Absolutely interesting and informative. This is best kind of learning experience for children and adults alike who are trying to understand the financial dynamics of running a business.. even with something as small as raising a few chickens and selling eggs. Keep it up, guys.. great work!
I could have sit and figured this out but I would not have gotten there any soon but Mike broke this down for me on a level that made absolute sense. I'm about to start selling my eggs but I wanted to know if it would be worth it. However, now I can build this model and I can see just like he said. I'm thrilled. Mike needs a farm business channel.
YES bring accountant Mike back! You two are two peas in a pod lol ;) and the financial side gets lost a lot in the world of homesteading and other industries and it’s good to have someone who can keep us accountable and explain the world of finances to us in a simple and respectful way!
Yes please!!! Love the advice we are just getting started trying to navigate isn’t very easy..😱🤦♀️🤷♀️thank you for being here with awesome advice to try out!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Super great video! I learned so much thank you! I had no idea and never really thought about the cost to sustain my girls. I’m a new chicky mom and this is exceptional information.
What a great hands on education for this kid. He'll have more "real world" experience by the time he hits high school than most college graduates (and this is coming from someone working on a Master's degree). I wish our education systems focused on things like this.
$5.00 is the price I pay at the general store for local eggs (and I know the farmer, she is one of the cashiers). They also charge about $3.50 for off-the-shelf regular eggs. My neighbor has a flock and charges $3 / dzn. But he sells out pretty frequently.
I am in Burleson and I get 3 dollars a dozen but I not doing it to make money. I have 2 people that have been buying from me for years and it pays for my feed an a few of the other cost. I enjoy have chickens and I get to many eggs for us to eat. so it is a win, win for both of us.
Elin W: Come out to rural NH. We have plenty of eggs. And maple syrup! Don't forget goat milk, a bit of bacon, and some beef, too. I've actually considered a farm stand.... the local market is pretty good, I think, if you have the right products.
That was great, I agree with Cassity ART, Mike, you would be a great asset to the homeschooling network, also to us newbie start ups! I am just starting out with day old chicks for meat birds. It is to be self sufficient, save money and feed my 3 grown lads, hubby and myself. It has to be financially viable, but we can also enjoy the fun side of rearing livestock and being outdoors.
Accountant Mike, I'm so glad you and your cute family were able to visit the new farm and do this video! I've been missing your sage advice lol. I love listening to the podcasts about selling chicken eggs and duck eggs. It's actually part of the reason I bought ducks this year instead of chickens. I'm very much looking forward to podcast season. 😁 Austin, your kids are all adorable. Great job as always.
This was so awesome! We love you accountant Mike ! I sell my eggs for $3 here, but I don’t buy egg cartons and my hay for nesting boxes are free! So here I think I do a bit better in North Carolina!
Diane Charles I sell my eggs for $3 too. And I am in NY. As for egg cartons I tell my customers to save their cartons and I have to many now! It’s great now I don’t have to buy cartons.
Does soaking the feed reduce the amount needed by 30%? Could free running the chickens to enable them to forage for bugs and food scraps save on using feed? Great job kid👍
I'm not a farmer, but logic tells me that soaking the feed should reduce the amount of water each chicken drinks, thus lessening the amount of work needed to clean and refill their water bucket(s) and lengthening the lifespan of the bucket nipples (if applicable). So soaking would save money, time, and effort. Although I could be completely wrong about that, it does occasionally happen to me! ;) Edit: #askhomesteady #askmike
I am moving from my tiny Apt on the 1st of the month, to a larger House, where my Neice and I will both live, her and her Husband upstairs,and myself, downstairs. We will be getting Chickens and plan on doing some planting in Containers and a few Raised beds maybe, and I'm so excited to get started,! So I'm watching ALL your Chicken VIdeos,LOL Thank you Homesteady !!
Great little video.A few costs missed out in the calculations but a great introduction to running a business for the young lad. I hope he does well. I really need to up my prices too.
If you can (I know, this is a dead thread, but ...) gather all of your monthly expenses. Since the boy is dependent on his parents, rent of space and tools/electricity, all the little side purchases that go into any food production effort, are not being counted. It's important for adults trying to run a small business to keep track of *all* expenditures. So, electricity, gas, any clothing that's specific for the item in question, cost of space, any cleaners, medications, treatments, cost of durable equipment (those nest boxes his chickens are using aren't free or cheap!), etc .... I have a spread sheet I use to figure out monthly/weekly costs, and then I can have the spreadsheet figure out daily costs. Generally, you want to make sure you're getting some sort of wage, and that gets added in too! Yes, it's a lot of math. And changing prices on everything can change the cost to you for each egg/squash/fish/bag of compost/handmade whatever. But, the sooner you get started, the easier it'll be later. Best of luck!
Accountant Mike explained in layman's terms to your son about creating a business, and what to look for when charging a customer I think it's great!!!!.
I'd like to see a segment of accountant Mike doing farm chores. Sorta like dirty jobs. Mike Rowe.... accountant Mike, eah,??? But yeah, I liked the numbers side of this. More Mike
Thanks for that break down. You know I asked that very question to Homesteady not that long ago. I've figured out my cost for my duck eggs which are extra special! Ducks are heavy feeders even though they free range and pampered organic eggs:) oh and btw, I've had dozens of double yolkers, Baker's love them. Hmm that Custard is so good. Lol
If I may, if you add some food grade diatomaceous earth to the feed, it will keep them clean. Almost spotless. I am just a city guy with only 4 chicken. But it really helps me. It may helpwith better sales. Great video.
That was a very cute, very informative video. Mike was a good sport in participating, and I hope the Chief Egg Officer understood the concept of input costs vs output profits. He seems to have a handle on the daily physical responsibilities, and now he's learning the math side of running a business. Austin can take the next step to help the CEO figure an average annual output and the associated profit. Question for Mike: If I compost my manure and sell it as a soil amendment, should I offer it by the truck load, in 5 gal. buckets, or just spoon it into egg cartons? :) (Baker's dozen not available at this time.) :) :)
Interesting topic. We're starting our flock next year. I'm "new" to a small town. My neighbor has been selling eggs for $3/dz the entire time I've been here, so I figure that's the market price for my area. The general store sells them for $5. I would probably charge $4 to avoid undercutting my neighbor (He deserves that respect), but cheaper than the "store"
this is how ALL kids should be taught and maybe just maybe kids would understand that money don't grow on trees. you have to spend money to make money. Farm Living. Great video.
You can know how much feed you go through each day by weighing it out. Also you can save money,increase their nutrition by fermenting it. Each chicken needs between 1/4 - 1/3 pound of feed daily, not including any scraps you give them. For instance I have 21 hens and 2 roosters. I feed them 8 pounds daily. Since it’s fermented the 8 pounds dry feed makes 20 pounds. That equals 2 1/2 days of feed. The eggs are much nicer. Stronger shells, darker yolks, nicer whites.
I've seen farm fresh eggs for $8/doz...the market according to me does not bear that price! I am willing to pay $6 if I really love the producer. We usually pay around $5 or $6. (My kids are all grown and our home is paid for so I don't have to pay as much attention to pinching pennies, hence not being sure of prices.). We live NW of Chicago. Excellent video. Thanks Aust and Mike!
Thank you for the nerdy egg math! I saved this video so I can spend more time totalling my expenses. It is my goal to actually raise enough layers in the spring to start selling eggs locally. Right now I have 4 hens and my girls are great at providing for my family but there are none extra to sell. That being said are there any certain breeds of chickens that lay better than others? And do you wait until your customer is requesting before you wash or do you sell the eggs unwashed?
What I do - (Mom's an accountant. I got a similar 'lesson' as a child, so I grew up understanding how to set prices, in general terms) - gather all of your monthly expenses. All of them for your household. How much you spend on feed and general items for the chickens - since you're just getting off the ground, you'll be able to track expenses easier. (My first 'chicken' spreadsheet was full of all the 'guestimates' based on feed conversion , local average prices of feed, cost of the coop, the electricity, cost of the chicks, the brooder (amortized over estimated life), All The Things. Don't forget to charge some sort of wage (be reasonable - what would you have to pay someone to do the daily work for you?), and if there's any part of your home given over to "chicken production" or record keeping - that gets added, too. (Percentages work reasonably well - say I have a computer and roughly 20 sqft of my home that I use *only* for the chickens and other 'farm' products - I can figure out a percentage of living space and then that percentage gets applied to utilities, rent or mortgage, upkeep costs, ... Since the child is dependent on his parents, rent of space and tools/electricity, all the little side purchases that go into any food production effort, are not being counted. It's important for adults trying to run a small business to keep track of *all* expenditures. So, electricity, gas, any clothing that's specific for the item in question, cost of space, any cleaners, medications, treatments, cost of durable equipment (those nest boxes his chickens are using aren't free or cheap!), etc .... I have a spread sheet I use to figure out monthly/weekly costs, and then I can have the spreadsheet figure out daily costs. Since you can declare the first few years to be a "hobby that you're trying to build into a business" (make sure to check for any local benefits for tax breaks for home businesses), the IRS had allowed you a 'trial period' where, as long as you made an overall profit for a certain couple of years, out of 5, you could deduct the cost of building your business as a write-off. It didn't get you the money back, but it did allow some benefit overall. With all of the other changes in laws and regulations, you may want to check to see if that's still allowed, or (if you live in a different country than I do) if your government allows something similar. About the other questions - yes, some types of chicken lay better than others. Check with your local agricultural extension agent, or just check around online. I get my chicks through the mail, so I'm able to pick which company has the better prices or better chicks (cheap isn't always good). By being a part of different "chicken communities", I can get a lot of information from a lot of different people. Just do an internet search for hatcheries, chicken groups, small farmers, local chicken groups - pretty much whatever you are interested in. Backyard Chickens ( www.backyardchickens.com) is a great source for getting started on the world wide support groups. Good luck!
If running it as a business you have to figure in that chickens don't start laying until they are about 6 months old. Once they are 18 months that molt and don't lay during that time. Winter time they don't lay as much and you are still feeding them. Add selling baby chicks to his business he will probably make more money.
Mike should start his own channel for homeschool businesses for kids. He spoke to this young man with respect. That is not common but it should be. 👊🐔🥚❤️
He would be a great teacher, his children will never be stuck for help with Math problems. 😊
I too noticed & appreciated how he spoke to the little CEO!
It staged
@@danielgomez-px6tj you can stage shots and lines but you can't stage a respectful attitude!
Loved this episode and accountant Mike. $3 per dozen is a steal for farm fresh eggs compared to what I pay the big box store.
This was awesome. I always struggle with farm pricing. I've been selling mine for $4/dozen and I feed a completely organic feed. I now realize that I need to go back and re-evaluate my cost. Thank you for this so much and definitely would enjoy seeing more of accountant Mike.
So awesome! New subscriber here! Farm fresh eggs sell for 5.00 a dozen. Organic free range eggs sells for 7.00 a dozen! This is in Las Vegas, Nevada
This is an excellent introduction for any new chicken egg farmer entering the market. Thank you, all of you.
This episode was FABULOUS! Accountant Mike did awesome and is wonderful interacting with children! This is the most informative homesteading channel around!
It would be great to see Mike with a regular spot on the show!
what a great lesson for your son Austin and Kay!! Your best friend was wonderful taking the time with your son. And your son was so encouraged!! Loved it!! Sharing!!
Thanks Accountant Mike, and Chief Egg Operator. Have not crunch the number and you showed me that I need to. Thanks
I think an Accountant Mike section or Q & A episode is a great idea... So many people, myself included, have dreams of having a little farm and making it sustainable, or at least partially so, and we have no clue how to make that happen..
I think bringing Accountant Mike on the show would be a definite winner!
It seams as if teaching a kid but in reality you teaching even the grown ups like me. thank you for such creative and realistic way of teaching
Spent years raising chickens for eggs. Got tired of selling eggs for nothing. We’re expanding what we do in to other things. Glad to know he’d be up for helping figure that stuff out. Great video!
I'm a huge finance nerd and I looooooooooove this episode! Accountant Mike Rocks! And your son seems sharp and like he's gonna go places! I love this content!
This is a GREAT video! I love how Mike interacts and found the info very helpful.
Loved this episode so much. Love to see a young man learning such great things. Way to go Blue Bird!!
Love, Love this! So helpful. I would enjoy a regular Accountant Mike segment.
I second your post!
I found this example VERY helpful in the reality of the egg selling business. Thank you!
I’d actually love watching more break downs like this!
Love the concept of teaching the kids the bookkeeping end of the business!
Yes, an excellent lesson that will definitely serve them well in adulthood!
This was a wonderful video. Absolutely interesting and informative. This is best kind of learning experience for children and adults alike who are trying to understand the financial dynamics of running a business.. even with something as small as raising a few chickens and selling eggs. Keep it up, guys.. great work!
I could have sit and figured this out but I would not have gotten there any soon but Mike broke this down for me on a level that made absolute sense. I'm about to start selling my eggs but I wanted to know if it would be worth it. However, now I can build this model and I can see just like he said. I'm thrilled. Mike needs a farm business channel.
It's so important to teach kids fundamentals about how it all works.
With out making it all hard work
It was so much fun watching Mick with your son, 3 cheers
YES bring accountant Mike back! You two are two peas in a pod lol ;) and the financial side gets lost a lot in the world of homesteading and other industries and it’s good to have someone who can keep us accountable and explain the world of finances to us in a simple and respectful way!
Oh how I love crunching numbers! This was awesome 👍
Very important if you're selling your goods! If you're growing to eat well.... just do it. If you want to sell, the math is important
Thanks this is good infomation for us homesteaders as we often don't give much thought to things like this.
That was fun to watch, good information. Thanks accountant Mike.
Yes please!!! Love the advice we are just getting started trying to navigate isn’t very easy..😱🤦♀️🤷♀️thank you for being here with awesome advice to try out!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Accountant Mike is a natural! Yes! Ask Accountant Mike episodes!
Super great video! I learned so much thank you! I had no idea and never really thought about the cost to sustain my girls. I’m a new chicky mom and this is exceptional information.
This was a fantastic video. Very nuts and bolts about farm-steading, but entertaining and approachable. Thanks.
What a great education for your son!!!
$4 a dozen up here in Minnesota and we can't produce enough! Great little business man you have!
This kid is very responsible. I salute him.
What a great hands on education for this kid. He'll have more "real world" experience by the time he hits high school than most college graduates (and this is coming from someone working on a Master's degree). I wish our education systems focused on things like this.
Good job Accountant Mike, Great info. Good luck on Blue Bird Egg Co... Son of Austin... LOL since we don't know his name..Neat video
I buy free range eggs for $5.00 a dozen in Dallas area. very interesting
$5.00 is the price I pay at the general store for local eggs (and I know the farmer, she is one of the cashiers). They also charge about $3.50 for off-the-shelf regular eggs. My neighbor has a flock and charges $3 / dzn. But he sells out pretty frequently.
I am in Burleson and I get 3 dollars a dozen but I not doing it to make money. I have 2 people that have been buying from me for years and it pays for my feed an a few of the other cost. I enjoy have chickens and I get to many eggs for us to eat. so it is a win, win for both of us.
Oak Knob Farm regular eggs can get a dozen at grocery store for 50¢ we buy cage free but no way of verifying that. $3 would be great for fresh eggs.
Elin W: Come out to rural NH. We have plenty of eggs. And maple syrup! Don't forget goat milk, a bit of bacon, and some beef, too. I've actually considered a farm stand.... the local market is pretty good, I think, if you have the right products.
Oak Knob Farm I live in farm area Iowa but don’t know any farmers personally to approach. I wanted to try raw milk but it’s illegal in Iowa.
Im am just so happy on the parenting on that kid! you guys are teaching him some very valuable information
That was great, I agree with Cassity ART, Mike, you would be a great asset to the homeschooling network, also to us newbie start ups! I am just starting out with day old chicks for meat birds. It is to be self sufficient, save money and feed my 3 grown lads, hubby and myself. It has to be financially viable, but we can also enjoy the fun side of rearing livestock and being outdoors.
Accountant Mike, I'm so glad you and your cute family were able to visit the new farm and do this video! I've been missing your sage advice lol. I love listening to the podcasts about selling chicken eggs and duck eggs. It's actually part of the reason I bought ducks this year instead of chickens. I'm very much looking forward to podcast season. 😁 Austin, your kids are all adorable. Great job as always.
This was great! Would love to see more of it for the kids.
Very good friend and your son will learn a lot.
Love the video, it is great for people to see the cost of the products that we buy
best video ever! Bring him back
Good math/finance lesson for your Chief Egg Officer. Keep gently reminding him of these concepts as he grows up and he will be wise with his money.
I love this! Great information and I'm glad to say I havr factored those things in!❤Thanks a bunch!
Brilliant applicable lesson ! Bravo Mike !
This was so awesome! We love you accountant Mike ! I sell my eggs for $3 here, but I don’t buy egg cartons and my hay for nesting boxes are free! So here I think I do a bit better in North Carolina!
Diane Charles I sell my eggs for $3 too. And I am in NY. As for egg cartons I tell my customers to save their cartons and I have to many now! It’s great now I don’t have to buy cartons.
Does soaking the feed reduce the amount needed by 30%? Could free running the chickens to enable them to forage for bugs and food scraps save on using feed?
Great job kid👍
I'm not a farmer, but logic tells me that soaking the feed should reduce the amount of water each chicken drinks, thus lessening the amount of work needed to clean and refill their water bucket(s) and lengthening the lifespan of the bucket nipples (if applicable). So soaking would save money, time, and effort.
Although I could be completely wrong about that, it does occasionally happen to me! ;)
Edit: #askhomesteady #askmike
I am moving from my tiny Apt on the 1st of the month, to a larger House, where my Neice and I will both live, her and her Husband upstairs,and myself, downstairs. We will be getting Chickens and plan on doing some planting in Containers and a few Raised beds maybe, and I'm so excited to get started,! So I'm watching ALL your Chicken VIdeos,LOL Thank you Homesteady !!
That is so exciting! I love hearing when people get started!
Great little video.A few costs missed out in the calculations but a great introduction to running a business for the young lad. I hope he does well. I really need to up my prices too.
THANK YOU FOR THE KNOWLEDGE. IT QILL HELP ME WITH MY NEW EGG BUSINESS.
I think you should bring him on as a regular feature. And your son is adorable.
Mike was awesome! Being from NY it would say $5! That's what I would be willing to pay for 1-3 day old eggs!
That fresh hell ya! Good luck to the BLUE BIRD EGG!!
GREAT INFO Accountant Mike!
Should make it a regular appearance!
Love love love this video. We are really struggling with farm pricing.
If you can (I know, this is a dead thread, but ...) gather all of your monthly expenses. Since the boy is dependent on his parents, rent of space and tools/electricity, all the little side purchases that go into any food production effort, are not being counted. It's important for adults trying to run a small business to keep track of *all* expenditures. So, electricity, gas, any clothing that's specific for the item in question, cost of space, any cleaners, medications, treatments, cost of durable equipment (those nest boxes his chickens are using aren't free or cheap!), etc .... I have a spread sheet I use to figure out monthly/weekly costs, and then I can have the spreadsheet figure out daily costs. Generally, you want to make sure you're getting some sort of wage, and that gets added in too!
Yes, it's a lot of math. And changing prices on everything can change the cost to you for each egg/squash/fish/bag of compost/handmade whatever. But, the sooner you get started, the easier it'll be later.
Best of luck!
Account Mike is a hoot.....I liked him tons!!!
great video and your son did an awesome job.
Accountant Mike explained in layman's terms to your son about creating a business, and what to look for when charging a customer I think it's great!!!!.
eh you could sell the chicken poop as "output" as well
Need more accountant Mike!
I'd like to see a segment of accountant Mike doing farm chores. Sorta like dirty jobs.
Mike Rowe.... accountant Mike, eah,???
But yeah, I liked the numbers side of this. More Mike
Thanks accounting Mike !
Love it Mike! I very interested in more of this.
Really Good info! Loved it!
Thanks for that break down. You know I asked that very question to Homesteady not that long ago.
I've figured out my cost for my duck eggs which are extra special!
Ducks are heavy feeders even though they free range and pampered organic eggs:) oh and btw, I've had dozens of double yolkers, Baker's love them. Hmm that Custard is so good. Lol
I know this was 4 years ago but it would be awesome to hear how much his egg business has grown from that day.
More Mike!! He's Great!!
This was really really good!
If I may, if you add some food grade diatomaceous earth to the feed, it will keep them clean. Almost spotless. I am just a city guy with only 4 chicken. But it really helps me. It may helpwith better sales. Great video.
Would love a series with very beginner farm business talk with Accountant Mike
this guys a expert he should start a show on tv
That was a very cute, very informative video. Mike was a good sport in participating, and I hope the Chief Egg Officer understood the concept of input costs vs output profits. He seems to have a handle on the daily physical responsibilities, and now he's learning the math side of running a business. Austin can take the next step to help the CEO figure an average annual output and the associated profit.
Question for Mike: If I compost my manure and sell it as a soil amendment, should I offer it by the truck load, in 5 gal. buckets, or just spoon it into egg cartons? :)
(Baker's dozen not available at this time.) :) :)
Your son looks so much like your wife. You have a beautiful family.
This was awesome! #loveaccountantmike
Great video!! very helpful!! I’ve heard if the eggs come out dirty it is because of worms. a treatment will fix it. they should be coming out clean.
Great info! Thank you
yes i need to talk to you about farming and pop up
Awesome video 😀
Interesting topic. We're starting our flock next year.
I'm "new" to a small town. My neighbor has been selling eggs for $3/dz the entire time I've been here, so I figure that's the market price for my area. The general store sells them for $5. I would probably charge $4 to avoid undercutting my neighbor (He deserves that respect), but cheaper than the "store"
this is how ALL kids should be taught and maybe just maybe kids would understand that money don't grow on trees. you have to spend money to make money. Farm Living. Great video.
You can know how much feed you go through each day by weighing it out.
Also you can save money,increase their nutrition by fermenting it.
Each chicken needs between 1/4 - 1/3 pound of feed daily, not including any scraps you give them.
For instance I have 21 hens and 2 roosters. I feed them 8 pounds daily. Since it’s fermented the 8 pounds dry feed makes 20 pounds. That equals 2 1/2 days of feed. The eggs are much nicer. Stronger shells, darker yolks, nicer whites.
Can't you eat the chickens once they stop laying eggs? Wouldn't that also be figured into the cost of the eggs?
I've seen farm fresh eggs for $8/doz...the market according to me does not bear that price! I am willing to pay $6 if I really love the producer. We usually pay around $5 or $6. (My kids are all grown and our home is paid for so I don't have to pay as much attention to pinching pennies, hence not being sure of prices.). We live NW of Chicago.
Excellent video. Thanks Aust and Mike!
Thanks for this!
This was great!
Great video! Thanks for the info...we might be contacting him
Cool guy!! I charge 3 as well.. Making me think about $3.50 now.. lol
I would like to know how I can get or work my own formula
Thank you for the nerdy egg math! I saved this video so I can spend more time totalling my expenses. It is my goal to actually raise enough layers in the spring to start selling eggs locally. Right now I have 4 hens and my girls are great at providing for my family but there are none extra to sell. That being said are there any certain breeds of chickens that lay better than others? And do you wait until your customer is requesting before you wash or do you sell the eggs unwashed?
What I do - (Mom's an accountant. I got a similar 'lesson' as a child, so I grew up understanding how to set prices, in general terms) - gather all of your monthly expenses. All of them for your household.
How much you spend on feed and general items for the chickens - since you're just getting off the ground, you'll be able to track expenses easier. (My first 'chicken' spreadsheet was full of all the 'guestimates' based on feed conversion , local average prices of feed, cost of the coop, the electricity, cost of the chicks, the brooder (amortized over estimated life), All The Things.
Don't forget to charge some sort of wage (be reasonable - what would you have to pay someone to do the daily work for you?), and if there's any part of your home given over to "chicken production" or record keeping - that gets added, too. (Percentages work reasonably well - say I have a computer and roughly 20 sqft of my home that I use *only* for the chickens and other 'farm' products - I can figure out a percentage of living space and then that percentage gets applied to utilities, rent or mortgage, upkeep costs, ...
Since the child is dependent on his parents, rent of space and tools/electricity, all the little side purchases that go into any food production effort, are not being counted. It's important for adults trying to run a small business to keep track of *all* expenditures. So, electricity, gas, any clothing that's specific for the item in question, cost of space, any cleaners, medications, treatments, cost of durable equipment (those nest boxes his chickens are using aren't free or cheap!), etc .... I have a spread sheet I use to figure out monthly/weekly costs, and then I can have the spreadsheet figure out daily costs.
Since you can declare the first few years to be a "hobby that you're trying to build into a business" (make sure to check for any local benefits for tax breaks for home businesses), the IRS had allowed you a 'trial period' where, as long as you made an overall profit for a certain couple of years, out of 5, you could deduct the cost of building your business as a write-off. It didn't get you the money back, but it did allow some benefit overall. With all of the other changes in laws and regulations, you may want to check to see if that's still allowed, or (if you live in a different country than I do) if your government allows something similar.
About the other questions - yes, some types of chicken lay better than others. Check with your local agricultural extension agent, or just check around online. I get my chicks through the mail, so I'm able to pick which company has the better prices or better chicks (cheap isn't always good). By being a part of different "chicken communities", I can get a lot of information from a lot of different people. Just do an internet search for hatcheries, chicken groups, small farmers, local chicken groups - pretty much whatever you are interested in. Backyard Chickens ( www.backyardchickens.com) is a great source for getting started on the world wide support groups.
Good luck!
How did you do on when you said that eggs
Input: food, water, bedding. Output: eggs, cartons.
I sold my eggs for $4 and could not keep them in stock.
Then you should charge $5 :)
6:23 they're strolling up in r2d2 and NASA shirts lol
Yes, Mike...birds lay eggs. Great advice!
I'll try again...I used the email in the description but it was undeliverable can you please share the correct one?
If running it as a business you have to figure in that chickens don't start laying until they are about 6 months old. Once they are 18 months that molt and don't lay during that time. Winter time they don't lay as much and you are still feeding them. Add selling baby chicks to his business he will probably make more money.
i would like help with ideas for customes