# \[Possibly\] dumb question from a city boy about farming **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240 "2016-09-06T23:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/1 "2016-09-06T23:21:17Z")
The price of eggs are back down to only a little more than free. I paid 48 cents for a dozen at Aldi today. That’s 4 cents per egg. The store, distributors, etc. must split at least half that. The average hen only lays 1 egg per day, if that. So fight my ignorance. How does an egg farmer raise chickens for only 2 cents each per day and still make a profit? Even if they have thousands of them it still comes out to (forgive the pun) chicken feed. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/2 "2016-09-06T23:37:07Z")
> [@](#): > > United States shell egg production totaled 7.10 billion during June 2016. > > Table egg flock size on July 1, 2016, was 299 million layers. Rate of lay per day on July 1, 2016, averaged 78.5 eggs per 100 layers. > > The five largest egg producing states represent approximately 51 percent of all U.S. hens. > > Presently, there are approximately 67 egg producing companies with 1 million-plus hens that represents approximately 86 percent of total production and 17 companies with greater than 5 million hens. > > Today, there are approximately 192 egg producing companies with flocks of 75,000 hens or more. These companies represent about 99 percent of all the hens in the United States.2 [http://www.aeb.org/farmers-and-marketers/industry-overview](http://www.aeb.org/farmers-and-marketers/industry-overview) So you have 100,000 hens producing 80,000 eggs/day. At $.02/egg that is $2,000/day or $730,000/year ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/3 "2016-09-06T23:41:22Z")
Based on this [report](http://www.unitedegg.org/information/pdf/Promar_Study2014.pdf) (large PDF) an estimate of the production costs of is 72-82 cents per dozen. see p22 ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/4 "2016-09-06T23:56:54Z")
The number above is an estimate of the average cost, the marginal cost of producing an additional egg **is** chicken feed. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/5 "2016-09-07T00:06:52Z")
I grew up on a small chicken farm. When eggs got down below 60 cents or so a dozen we were in trouble. I’m sure it’s way easier for the big operations to absorb temporary downturns. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/6 "2016-09-07T00:18:19Z")
Eggs at Aldi here are hovering around 69 cents/doz. Maybe our cheap eggs are subsidizing your supercheap eggs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/7 "2016-09-07T00:23:20Z")
Or it’s a loss leader. Happens all the time in the grocery business. Get you in the door with the super-cheap eggs and maybe you’ll buy bacon, bread and coffee, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/8 "2016-09-07T01:06:50Z")
What about non-retail egg sales, the vast number of eggs that go into other products as ingredients? Unlike fresh eggs which have a fairly short shelf life, I would presume that most eggs used for products are powdered. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/9 "2016-09-07T01:51:31Z")
Holy cow, $0.69 a dozen? Even that’s cheap for here. It’s closer to $1.50, though I always buy five dozen at a time for around $8. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/10 "2016-09-07T04:30:37Z")
Remember that egg prices were at a record high one year ago. This may have led producers to lay in, as it were, a larger number of new brood hens, and perhaps caused consumers, both individual and commercial, to decrease their consumption. Prices now may reflect a snapback, based on increased supply and reduced demand. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/11 "2016-09-07T04:33:05Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [http://www.aeb.org/farmers-and-marketers/industry-overview](http://www.aeb.org/farmers-and-marketers/industry-overview) > > So you have 100,000 hens producing 80,000 eggs/day. At $.02/egg that is $2,000/day or $730,000/year So you have to have a zillion birds to turn a profit. How are these smaller places I see in rural areas surviving? When the price is down, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/12 "2016-09-07T04:50:12Z")
Don’t forget – eggs are not the only things of value chickens make. When their egg-laying days are done, there’s one in every pot. Some may visit the Colonel. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/13 "2016-09-07T05:03:52Z")
Layers don’t make for great human food. When they are done they are something of a shocking wreck. Chicken Stock, pet food, possibly industrially processed meats. You don’t want to think about what goes into chicken nuggets (necks mostly I’m told). Nothing will be wasted, but layers are not meat hens and the final value will be very low in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/14 "2016-09-07T05:38:45Z")
It looks like retailers are mostly paying about 75 cents per dozen large eggs in your region according to the latest USDA [Egg Market News Report](https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/pybshellegg.pdf) (PDF). If Aldi is selling large eggs for less than that, it’s probably a loss leader, as suggested above. Producers in your region are getting about 58 cents of that or almost 5 cents per egg. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/15 "2016-09-07T06:45:13Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Producers in your region are getting about 58 cents of that or almost 5 cents per egg. Alright, but that’s still only 5 lousy cents per chicken, before deductions for expenses. I can’t feed a goldfish for a nickel. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/16 "2016-09-07T07:38:29Z")
It’s probably a lot less fun to be a battery farm egg-producing hen than to be your goldfish. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/17 "2016-09-07T07:38:48Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Alright, but that’s still only 5 lousy cents per chicken, before deductions for expenses. I can’t feed a goldfish for a nickel. You don’t have a supplier for goldfish food in large bulk amounts I guess. If you buy a five pound bag you can get 0.1 ounce of goldfish food for a nickel. How much does a goldfish eat? If you buy a quarter pound, you only get 0.05 ounces. If you buy 50 pounds you get 0.15 ounces per nickel. And that’s a small amount purchased of food that is substantially more expensive than chicken feed. (All figures based on whatever fish food results I got first.) ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/18 "2016-09-07T07:51:52Z")
You folks are fortunate. Here in my pueblito, an egg is 1.5 pesos, or approx 8 cents. And they are the food of choice, because of the price. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/19 "2016-09-07T08:10:34Z")
Cheapest eggs at Aldi in the UK are £1.00 ($1.34) a dozen, so either we treat our chickens a whole lot better or they are hugely profitable. Of course I can pay a lot more if I want to buy eggs that came from a chicken with a name, living a happy and fulfilled life in a woodland somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240/20 "2016-09-07T09:06:47Z")
Aldi buys them in Sicily for one cent, selling them to Malta for four and a half cents, buying them back for seven cents, and finally selling them in their stores for five cents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possibly-dumb-question-from-a-city-boy-about-farming/765240.md?page=2)