Hatching Egg Price Calculator
Find your cost per hatching egg and per dozen from breeder pen costs, laying rate, selection rejects, packaging, and labor, then a price for your target margin.
Free · no account · works on mobile · embeddable
Best for breeders selling fertile eggs by the dozen, locally or shipped. Updated .
The breeder pen
Cost and price per dozen
Sellable eggs = eggs × hatching share × (1 − reject %). Monthly cost = pen cost × hatching share + packaging × dozens + labor. Cost per dozen = monthly cost ÷ sellable dozens; target price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). A cost floor, not a market price; shipping is charged separately and this tool does not cover NPIP or interstate shipping rules.
About the hatching egg price calculator
Hatching eggs are usually priced by looking at what other breeders ask, which tells you nothing about whether the pen pays for itself. This calculator starts with what the breeder pen costs each month, how many eggs it lays, what share you collect for hatching, and how many you reject at selection, then adds packaging and your labor to reach a cost per egg and per dozen. From there it gives a target price at your margin and shows profit at the price you actually plan to charge.
It is the egg-side companion to the day-old chick price calculator: the same pen can sell eggs, chicks, or both, and this tool prices the eggs.
Sellable eggs and allocated cost
Eggs collected for hatching are eggs laid × hatching share. Selection removes the eggs Missouri Extension says not to set: cracked, dirty, misshapen, or unusually large or small. What remains, divided by 12, is your sellable dozens. The breeder pen's monthly cost is charged to hatching eggs in the same proportion as the hatching share, so if 60% of the eggs are collected for hatching, 60% of the pen cost lands on them and the rest belongs to the table eggs or the chicks you hatch yourself.
Packaging is per dozen sold; hatching eggs need foam or padded shippers, which cost more than a pulp carton. Labor covers collecting, candling, marking, storing pointed end down, packing, and messaging buyers. Penn State's enterprise budgeting guidance is blunt about it: even without hired help, your time belongs in the budget.
From cost to price
Cost per dozen is monthly cost divided by sellable dozens; the target price divides that by one minus your target margin. Penn State frames break-even as total cost divided by units, and notes the break-even price must sit at or below the market price for the enterprise to be worth running. Rare breeds, proven hatch rates, and NPIP status raise what buyers will pay; a common breed sold locally may not clear the target, in which case the pen is better used for chicks or table eggs. Shipping is charged separately and is not in the cost.
Worked example: a $180 per month breeder pen
A breeder pen costs $180 a month and lays 300 eggs. Collecting 60% for hatching gives 180 eggs; a 10% rejection at selection removes 18, leaving 162 sellable eggs, or 13.5 dozen. The pen cost allocated to hatching eggs is $108 (60% of $180), packaging at $2.00 a dozen is $27, and 6 hours of labor at $20 is $120, for a monthly cost of $255. That is $18.89 per dozen, or $1.57 per egg. A 40% target margin gives a target price of $31.48 per dozen, $2.62 per egg. Selling at $36 a dozen ($3.00 per egg) earns $17.11 per dozen, a 47.5% margin, and about $231 a month.
Sources
- University of Missouri Extension, Small flock series: incubation of poultry (G8353). Select eggs normal in size, shape, color, and shell texture; do not set excessively large or small eggs; remove eggs with defects, dirt, and cracks; never store fertile eggs more than two weeks. Accessed Sep 4, 2026.
- Penn State Extension, Enterprise budgeting for small poultry flocks. Variable costs include feed, bedding, packaging, and labor, including your own time; break-even price is total costs divided by units and should be at or below market price. Accessed Sep 4, 2026.
This calculator gives planning estimates from the numbers you enter. It is not accounting, tax, veterinary, or legal advice. Replace the defaults with your own farm records whenever you have them.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge for hatching eggs?
At least your cost per dozen divided by one minus your margin, then adjusted for breed rarity and demand. Common breeds often sell for $20 to $40 a dozen locally, while rare or show-line eggs can bring several times that, plus shipping.
How many eggs from my pen can I sell as hatching eggs?
Eggs laid × the share you collect for hatching × (1 minus your rejection rate). A pen laying 300 eggs a month with 60% collected and 10% rejected yields about 162 eggs, or 13.5 dozen. Hatching eggs should be set within about 7 days, so collect only what you can sell that fast.
Which eggs should not be sold as hatching eggs?
Cracked, dirty, misshapen, thin-shelled, and unusually large or small eggs. Missouri Extension notes that very large or small eggs are often infertile and that defects, dirt, and cracks should be removed before setting. Those eggs can still be table eggs.
Should the rooster's feed be in the price?
Yes. The whole breeder pen exists to produce fertile eggs, so its full monthly cost, including males, goes in, and the calculator allocates it by the share of eggs sold for hatching.
How is this different from the day-old chick price calculator?
That tool carries the same eggs through incubation to a cost per sellable chick. This one stops at the egg. Run both to see whether your pen earns more selling eggs at your target price or hatching them yourself.
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