So, Am I Saving Money?

The general question is, am I saving money by hatching these chickens myself?

The short answer is a simple 'no'. However, it is much more complicated than that. We won't have a definitive answer until we have a final hatch, but right now, if every single chicken hatched, we'd have to price them at $2.00 each to break even. On egg cost alone. That doesn't even count the incubator expense, though it DOES include the cost of shipping the eggs.

However, twelve of the remaining eggs are highly valuable Marans eggs, which may help to recap the expenses. Hopefully that will balance out the total wash out that the second purchase was. Of the sixteen eggs I received from the second seller one was broken in half, one was visibly rotten, and six more have proven to be infertile. Those are bad numbers! The others are much more what I would expect, with the majority of eggs showing growth and the case of one little chickie already dancing around.

I have also been very picky about purebreds. If I had wanted mutt eggs I could have gotten them cheaper. I am hoping that sticking to purebred chickens will also increase my chance to earn back what I spent and start paying off the incubator.

How the Marans hatch has a lot to do with whether I will save money or even make it. If I have a good hatch rate, then I potentially have earnings in sight.

Of course, all of this is just counting money. The experience is a whole other thing!