Considering the Egg Output

An important element of having a successful sustainable homestead or business is that you can manage your edible inventory. You have to be able to keep yourself or your client stocked with a predictable source of produce all year to be successful. One way we are improving our record-keeping is by keeping a garden journal that notes quantities and dates of planting so we can track information over time to refer to in the future in order to begin to capitalize on successes or learn from mistakes. It is also important to keep track of the chickens' egg production. The first price we settled on for our eggs was based on two factors: 1) the average yearly egg production of our chickens based on their breed descriptions and 2) wanting to keep the price relative or under store prices to attract buyers. About a year later, a comment from a regular customer made us realize two other things: 1) store prices were increasing and 2) our eggs are just as good of quality if not better (more humane, etc.) than those from the store so we started keeping daily records of eggs produced by our seven chickens to see just what our costs were. After the first quarter of the year we looked at the numbers and determined that based on production and feed costs, we were selling our eggs below production cost which had an end result that the cost of the eggs we ate ourselves was a dollar+ more in cost than we were charging others for our eggs. We determined a slight price increase would make a big difference in leveling the field. A month later, we now have more data to factor in and our new price seems to be accurate to cover the feed cost associated with its production. However, unlike a successful business, we aren't making money, so how could we solve that problem knowing that the true reason for having chickens was to learn to be self-sufficient? We noticed that on average over our record-keeping period we have been consuming half our eggs and selling the other half. This means that for 3 people to subsist independently, we would only need half the number of chickens we currently have (or 3.5 birds, round to 4). We feel that in this scenario, with the option of selling eggs removed, we would probably personally consume a bit more eggs, wanting maybe 2/3 of our current flock (or 4.6 birds round to 5). Therefore, to sustain we feel we need about 1-2 birds per person - handy information to know for the future!

Update: 5/20/13
So as a family-member pointed out to us, even though we recognize other values that the chickens provide, the above discussion did not expand beyond the monetary focus. One important benefit we recognize from the chickens is an expanded connection to the community. Neighbors and friends always ask after the chickens, looking for chicken-raising tips or interesting stories. We've made new friends through the chickens and helped entertain our current ones! Also, our customer's have a trusted and known source for their eggs, which may help their eggs taste even better! We love our experience with our chickens so much we recently gave our broody hen, Lacey, a dozen eggs to sit on and connecting with neighbors down the street, borrowed their incubator for another dozen eggs. Chicks are expected in the first week of June, but we aren't planning to count them before they hatch!