diff --git a/pkg/operations/reconcile/metrics.go b/pkg/operations/reconcile/metrics.go
index 0af6be852..9d04bb72c 100644
--- a/pkg/operations/reconcile/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/operations/reconcile/metrics.go
@@ -3,13 +3,39 @@ package reconcile
 import (
 	"path"
 
+	go_prom "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/weaveworks/ignite/pkg/constants"
 	"github.com/weaveworks/ignite/pkg/prometheus"
 )
 
+var (
+	vmCreated = go_prom.NewCounter(go_prom.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "vm_create_counter",
+		Help: "The count of VMs created",
+	})
+	vmDeleted = go_prom.NewCounter(go_prom.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "vm_delete_counter",
+		Help: "The count of VMs deleted",
+	})
+	vmStarted = go_prom.NewCounter(go_prom.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "vm_start_counter",
+		Help: "The count of VMs started",
+	})
+	vmStopped = go_prom.NewCounter(go_prom.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "vm_stop_counter",
+		Help: "The count of VMs stopped",
+	})
+	kindIgnored = go_prom.NewCounter(go_prom.CounterOpts{
+		Name: "kind_ignored_counter",
+		Help: "A counter of non-vm manifests ignored",
+	})
+)
+
 func startMetricsThread() {
-	_, server := prometheus.New()
+	reg, server := prometheus.New()
+	reg.MustRegister(vmCreated, vmDeleted, vmStarted, vmStopped, kindIgnored)
+
 	go func() {
 		// create a new registry and http.Server. don't register custom metrics to the registry quite yet
 		metricsSocket := path.Join(constants.DATA_DIR, constants.DAEMON_SOCKET)
diff --git a/pkg/operations/reconcile/reconcile.go b/pkg/operations/reconcile/reconcile.go
index 77664c462..39d098d0a 100644
--- a/pkg/operations/reconcile/reconcile.go
+++ b/pkg/operations/reconcile/reconcile.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func ReconcileManifests(s *manifest.ManifestStorage) {
 		// Only care about VMs
 		if upd.APIType.GetKind() != api.KindVM {
 			log.Tracef("GitOps: Ignoring kind %s", upd.APIType.GetKind())
+			kindIgnored.Inc()
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ func ReconcileManifests(s *manifest.ManifestStorage) {
 			runHandle(func() error {
 				return handleChange(vm)
 			})
+
 		case update.ObjectEventDelete:
 			runHandle(func() error {
 				// TODO: Temporary VM Object for removal
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@ func create(vm *api.VM) error {
 	if err := ensureOCIImages(vm); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
+	vmCreated.Inc()
 	// Allocate and populate the overlay file
 	return dmlegacy.AllocateAndPopulateOverlay(vm)
 }
@@ -146,17 +148,19 @@ func start(vm *api.VM) error {
 	}
 
 	log.Infof("Starting VM %q with name %q...", vm.GetUID(), vm.GetName())
+	vmStarted.Inc()
 	return operations.StartVM(vm, true)
 }
 
 func stop(vm *api.VM) error {
 	log.Infof("Stopping VM %q with name %q...", vm.GetUID(), vm.GetName())
+	vmStopped.Inc()
 	return operations.StopVM(vm, true, false)
 }
 
 func remove(vm *api.VM) error {
 	log.Infof("Removing VM %q with name %q...", vm.GetUID(), vm.GetName())
-
+	vmDeleted.Inc()
 	// Object deletion is performed by the SyncStorage, so we just
 	// need to clean up any remaining resources of the VM here
 	return operations.CleanupVM(vm)