Farming
How to calculate profit and loss for a laying duck farm
A simple guide to building a monthly profit-and-loss report for a laying duck farm, from feed costs to coop depreciation.
Tenka Tech team 3 min read
Many laying duck farmers know how many eggs they sold today, but only find out whether they made a profit at the end of a period. A monthly profit-and-loss report can be built from records that already exist at the farm.
Start with the basic records
A profit-and-loss report is only as accurate as its records. Every day, write down:
- how many eggs were produced and sold;
- how much feed was used (in kilograms) and what it cost;
- how many ducks died or were culled;
- other spending, such as medicine, vitamins, electricity, and wages.
These daily records are then added up for the month.
Calculate revenue
Revenue is all the money that comes in from the business in a month:
- egg sales (number of eggs or kilograms times the selling price);
- sales of culled ducks;
- other sales, such as duck manure for fertilizer.
Use the prices you actually sold at, not the market price. If some eggs were sold cheaper because they were cracked, record them separately.
Calculate costs
Split costs into two groups so the report is easy to read.
Variable costs rise and fall with flock size and output: feed, medicine and vitamins, and packaging. On a laying farm, feed is usually the biggest cost, so record it as precisely as you can.
Fixed costs stay roughly the same every month: wages, electricity and water, land rent, and depreciation.
Do not forget depreciation
Coops, equipment, and the ducks themselves are bought up front but used for years. So that monthly profit does not look bigger than it really is, part of their value is recorded as a cost every month. The simplest method:
Monthly depreciation = purchase price ÷ expected useful life (in months)
Example: a coop worth IDR 36 million that is expected to last 6 years (72 months) is depreciated by IDR 500,000 per month.
Put the report together
Once revenue and costs are collected, a monthly profit-and-loss report can look like this. The figures below are only an example to show how the calculation works.
| Item | Amount (example) |
|---|---|
| Egg sales | IDR 30,000,000 |
| Culled duck sales | IDR 2,000,000 |
| Total revenue | IDR 32,000,000 |
| Feed | IDR 20,000,000 |
| Medicine and vitamins | IDR 1,000,000 |
| Wages | IDR 4,000,000 |
| Electricity, water, and other | IDR 1,000,000 |
| Depreciation of coops and equipment | IDR 1,000,000 |
| Total costs | IDR 27,000,000 |
| Net profit | IDR 5,000,000 |
Read the numbers
A few things in the monthly report are worth watching:
- Feed cost per egg. If it keeps rising, look for wasted feed or falling output.
- Mortality rate. A spike in losses hits next month's production directly.
- This month's profit compared with last month. The trend matters more than any single month.
Skip the manual recap
You can build this report in a notebook or spreadsheet, as long as the records are disciplined. Tenka Farm takes care of the most tiring part: feed, production, mortality, stock, and sales are recorded every day, and the profit-and-loss report is built from those records.
Want to try it with your own farm's numbers? Use our free duck farm profit calculator, no sign-up needed.