Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Using the data from my own homestead, one of the most common questions I get asked every time egg prices go up due to bird flu outbreak, is it cheaper to raise my own chickens for eggs? And the answer is always NO! it's never cheaper to raise chickens for eggs than buying eggs from a store unless you can figure out a way to offset the "hard costs" for things like a chicken coop, feeders, waterers, electric fence or other predator protection like automatic doors, chicken wire and hardware cloth that needs replace due to being damaged or rotted, boards that rot, and I didn't even mention chicken bedding that needs replaced often -- all of these hidden costs, make it nearly impossible to raise your own chickens for eggs cheaper than high volume egg producers aka store bought eggs. Where it is beneficial though is the prices are more steady month to month, you know what the chickens are, how they were cared for, and how old the eggs are. Another difference is that most egg laying hens lay much larger eggs than you buy from a store (depending on the breed of chicken). My Rhode island red chickens lay an extra large brown egg that is twice the size of a large grade A store bought egg and if it's a double or triple yolk it's even larger than that.
You can also greatly offset the cost of raising chickens if you use a dual purpose breed, hatch chicks from eggs your hens lay, and proceed those for chicken meat to be consumed by your family. If you do that, then over time it will pay for itself.
Many people who sell eggs from chickens they raise sell them below cost to help offset their own costs in the long run but for the small flocks raised by homeowners and homesteads, they will never be profitable as a business.
Using the data from my own homestead, one of the most common questions I get asked every time egg prices go up due to bird flu outbreak, is it cheaper to raise my own chickens for eggs? And the answer is always NO! it's never cheaper to raise chickens for eggs than buying eggs from a store unless you can figure out a way to offset the "hard costs" for things like a chicken coop, feeders, waterers, electric fence or other predator protection like automatic doors, chicken wire and hardware cloth that needs replace due to being damaged or rotted, boards that rot, and I didn't even mention chicken bedding that needs replaced often -- all of these hidden costs, make it nearly impossible to raise your own chickens for eggs cheaper than high volume egg producers aka store bought eggs. Where it is beneficial though is the prices are more steady month to month, you know what the chickens are, how they were cared for, and how old the eggs are. Another difference is that most egg laying hens lay much larger eggs than you buy from a store (depending on the breed of chicken). My Rhode island red chickens lay an extra large brown egg that is twice the size of a large grade A store bought egg and if it's a double or triple yolk it's even larger than that.
You can also greatly offset the cost of raising chickens if you use a dual purpose breed, hatch chicks from eggs your hens lay, and proceed those for chicken meat to be consumed by your family. If you do that, then over time it will pay for itself.
Many people who sell eggs from chickens they raise sell them below cost to help offset their own costs in the long run but for the small flocks raised by homeowners and homesteads, they will never be profitable as a business.
