Egg Cost Calculator: Are Backyard Eggs Cheaper?
Works out your real cost per dozen and whether — and when — your flock beats buying eggs at the store.
- Ongoing cost per dozen
- $1.59
- feed only, year 2 onward
- First-year cost per dozen
- $5.96
- includes all startup cost
- Store price per dozen
- $4.00
- your comparison
Once you're set up, your flock is cheaper to run than buying eggs — saving about $331/year vs the store. At that rate the startup cost pays for itself in about 1.8 years.
The honest answer
For a typical setup — 6 Rhode Island Reds, a $600 startup, $20 feed bags, versus $4 store eggs — the ongoing cost works out to about $1.59 a dozen in feed, well under the store. The catch is year one: fold in the coop and gear and that first dozen effectively costs $5.96. At those numbers the flock repays its setup in about 1.8 years. Change the inputs to match your own plan.
How this works
There are two very different "costs per egg," and conflating them is why people argue about whether chickens save money. The ongoing cost is just feed divided by eggs — what each dozen costs you once the coop is built and paid for. That number is usually lower than store eggs for a decent layer. The first-year cost adds your entire one-time setup (coop, run, feeders, the birds themselves) on top, spread over just that year's eggs — which is why your first backyard eggs feel wildly expensive.
The calculator estimates your annual eggs from the breed's typical laying rate and your flock size, works out annual feed cost from the same quarter-pound-a-day model as our feed cost calculator, and compares both against the store price you enter. Then it does the part people actually want: the break-even. Each year your flock costs less to feed than the same eggs cost at the store, that difference chips away at your startup cost. Divide startup by that yearly saving and you get the years to pay it back.
Sometimes the answer is that it never breaks even on eggs — if store eggs are cheap, your flock is small, or you keep low-output ornamental breeds, feed alone can cost more than just buying eggs. That's not a failure of the flock; it's the honest math, and it's worth knowing before you expect chickens to be a money-maker.
A worked example
Ten ISA Browns — near-commercial layers — on a $500 setup, $22 feed bags, versus $5 store eggs. They lay around 3,250 eggs a year (271 dozen), eating about $365 of feed, so ongoing cost is roughly $1.35 a dozen against $5 at the store. That's about $990 of eggs bought for $365 of feed — a $625 yearly saving that clears the $500 setup in well under a year. Swap in six Silkies and $2 store eggs and the picture flips entirely. Same tool, opposite answer — which is exactly the point.
Frequently asked questions
- Are backyard eggs actually cheaper than store eggs?
- Usually not in the first year or two, once you count the coop and setup. But the ongoing cost — feed only — is often lower than store prices for a productive flock. Whether you come out ahead depends on how much you spent to start, how well your birds lay, and what eggs cost at your store. This calculator runs those numbers for you.
- What does it really cost to keep a laying hen?
- Feed is the main ongoing cost — about a quarter pound a day per hen, roughly $35–45 a year per bird at typical feed prices. On top of that are one-time setup costs (coop, run, feeders) and small recurring costs like bedding. The hen herself is cheap; the housing is where the money goes.
- How long until my chickens pay for themselves?
- If running the flock costs less per year than buying the same number of eggs, the yearly saving slowly repays your startup cost. For a well-laying flock and average store prices that break-even often lands around 1.5–3 years. If feed alone costs more than store eggs, it never breaks even on eggs — you're keeping chickens for other reasons.
- Why are my homegrown eggs "expensive"?
- Three things drive the cost up: a pricey coop spread over few eggs, hens that lay poorly (heavy or ornamental breeds, or older birds), and feed waste from rodents or billed-out feeders. Good layers, a repurposed or DIY coop, and a rodent-proof feeder are the biggest levers if lowering cost-per-egg is your goal.
- Do chickens save money in the long run?
- They can, but most honest keepers will tell you the math is a wash or a modest win — and that eggs are not really why they keep chickens. Better-tasting eggs, knowing how the birds are raised, pest control, garden compost, and the birds themselves are the real return. Treat any cost saving as a bonus, not the business plan.