Year 1 is expensive. Year 3 is a different story. Here is the honest math, including the costs most calculators leave out.
When people ask whether backyard chickens save money, they usually get one of two answers: the romantic one ("free eggs!") or the cynical one ("you will never beat the store"). Both are wrong, or at least incomplete. I ran the numbers on my own 6-hen flock, and the truth has a timeline attached.
Here is the short version: year 1 eggs are expensive, often $8 to $12 per dozen once the coop is counted. By year 2 or 3, with the coop paid off, many flocks land between $2.50 and $4.50 per dozen, which beats or matches regular store eggs depending on your feed prices. One widely cited 2025 comparison put year 1 at about $10.60 per dozen and year 2 onward at $4.20, against regular store eggs around $3.50 and premium eggs near $7.00.
But those numbers only mean something if you count everything. Let me show you the full ledger.
The year 1 ledger for a typical 6-hen flock
Take the most common setup: 6 hens, started as pullets at $25 each, a $400 coop and run, feed at $3.50 per bird per month, and $15 a month for bedding, grit, and miscellaneous.
Cost item
Amount
6 started pullets at $25
$150
Coop and run
$400
Feed: 6 birds x $3.50 x 12 months
$252
Bedding and misc: $15 x 12
$180
Year 1 total
$982
Now the output. Six hens laying 5 eggs a week each produce 1,560 eggs a year, which is 130 dozen. Divide $982 by 130 dozen and you get $7.55 per dozen. If your coop cost $600 instead of $400, that climbs to $9.09. If store eggs are $4.50 a dozen, you are paying a premium of roughly $400 in year 1 for the privilege of fresh eggs. That is the honest version nobody posts on social media.
Year 2 onward: where it turns around
In year 2 the coop is already paid for. Annual cost drops to feed plus bedding: $252 plus $180, or $432. Same 130 dozen eggs. Cost per dozen: $3.32. That is below regular store prices in most of the country and well below the $6 to $10 that pasture-raised eggs command at a store.
This is the pattern the Eggbloom 2025 data confirms: backyard eggs get cheaper after the first year, and once store prices rise above about $5 per dozen, a steady flock saves real money. During the 2022 to 2023 egg price spike, when store dozens hit $4.80 and higher nationally, backyard flocks looked brilliant. When store eggs sit at $2 or $3, they look like a hobby. Egg prices are cyclical, and your flock is a hedge, not a guarantee.
Two things will move your number the most: lay rate and feed cost. A hen that lays 6 eggs a week instead of 4 cuts your per dozen cost by a third. A 50 pound bag of layer feed at $25 instead of $18 adds about $0.50 per dozen. If you want to optimize one thing, get laying breeds known for production and keep them laying steadily, which usually means enough daylight and consistent feed.
The costs everyone forgets
Your time. Ten minutes a day is about 60 hours a year. Even at a modest valuation, that is the single biggest "cost" of backyard eggs. One 2026 farm pricing guide put the true all-in cost per dozen at $5.78 to $7.15 when time is included. I do not count my time because I enjoy the routine, but if you are doing this purely for savings, you should.
Predator losses and replacements. Plan on replacing at least one bird a year in most areas. Hawks, raccoons, and neighbor dogs are all real.
Winter gear. Heated waterers, extra bedding, supplemental lighting. Winter is when the electricity bill quietly joins the ledger.
Vet costs or culling. Chickens get sick. There is no $20 office visit for a hen, so most keepers budget a small monthly miscellaneous amount instead, which is exactly what our calculator's $15 bedding and miscellaneous line is for.
Run your own flock through the numbers. The free Backyard Chicken Cost Calculator takes your actual coop cost, bird prices, feed, and laying rate, and shows first-year cost, ongoing cost, per dozen breakdown, and a break-even frame against your local store price. Every default is editable because averages are not your flock.
Usually not in year 1, because the coop is a fixed cost that has to be absorbed by your first batches of eggs. Once the coop is paid for, a productive flock often produces eggs at or below regular store prices, especially when store egg prices are high.
How many eggs will 6 hens lay per week?
About 30, if each hen lays 5 per week, which is typical for good laying breeds in their first two years. Expect production to dip in winter and during the annual molt, and decline gradually after age 2 or 3.
What is the biggest variable in egg cost?
Feed, followed by lay rate. Feed is roughly half of ongoing costs, so a $7 difference in bag price matters. Lay rate determines how many dozens your fixed costs get divided across.
Do pasture-raised style flocks cost more per dozen?
Slightly, because free-ranging hens still need layer feed to lay well, and ranging can increase predator losses. But their eggs compare against store pasture-raised eggs at $6 to $10 a dozen, so the relative savings are actually bigger.