A matter of finetuning

Making money from an egg unit depends on many factors, and each has to be fine-tuned to optimise profits, as this article revealed.

It is often said that egg yield (the number of eggs per bird) is the leading factor determining the profit in egg production.

That is not the complete answer, otherwise ducks would rule the roost, with their far more prolific output.

Questions of public taste, egg size, feed consumption and even publicity all play a role in profitability.

The ‘inequalities’ in such things as feed and pullet costs, overheads and egg prices are the factors that can tip the balance between profit and loss and make the running of an egg unit a matter of fine-tuning, where small adjustments can have a large effect on final results.

The successful producer is constantly concerned about keeping down mortality and feed wastage, limiting egg breakages, improving handling techniques, and generally maintaining efficiency in a multitude of small ways.

Some come with experience, while others can be calculated systematically.

Food costs vary, but it can broadly be reckoned that they represent rather more than 70% of total production costs in the average egg unit.

Nobody, sensibly, pays more than he or she has to for feed, but price-cutting must never be at the expense of performance.

BULK FEED

Feed is cheaper if delivered in bulk rather than bags, to the extent that investing in a bulk bin should repay its cost within at least 18 to 24 months.