Is it just me or are some people taking advantage of this new trend?

[moetrout]

OK, I just read this whole post. My question to all of you egg sellers out there. How much more is really being made by the person who sells their eggs for $5/dz than the person who sells them for $4/dz. Easy answer is a buck a dozen, but at the end of the day what did they end up with....like ten bucks more, twenty bucks more? My real point here is......nobody is gettin' rich quick selling eggs! I only have six hens, which I figure if I am lucky is like 3 dozen eggs each week. So if I sell my extras that I don't eat for $5/dz I might make enough to pay for the feed. In reality I will probably eat what I can and give the rest to family and then friends.

 

[EggSpudition]

Quote:
Yup! Lifestyle changer. Also read the Ominvore's Dilemma. Terrible state the food industry is in. Just terrible. I'm just glad I raise my own hens. My small backyard flock is just what I need. However, I need to find a place to buy chicken meat, I just can't raise them for meat quite yet.

Amen!


Of course being an omnivore and trying to eat chicken is rough. I can't afford to pay $26 for a 5lb chicken. I trying to work out something with a local chicken farmer- he sells his 3 month roosters at $1 a piece.

$1 - rooster
$3.50- processing
+ $4.50 for a smaller bird.

That'ts not to bad..

 

[thegreypony]

Sophie (our daughter) just started actually selling her eggs (she had been giving them to various older folks in the neighborhood). She gets $3 dozen for a couple XL, couple L, and the rest M/L and M. The money goes towards sponsoring a child in Uganda and I think that motivates ppl...she has a waiting list.... OH - she also gets $3 for a dozen bantam eggs...they make the most novel deviled eggs!

 

[chikadeedoodah]

That's an awesome price!! I need to find something like that!

 

[chikadeedoodah]

I guess my point is I just wish that eating the right way would be more affordable. Wouldn't we all <3 to get rid of the egg production operations? I know several people that simply can't afford $5 for a dozen eggs, if they can go and get commercial eggs, milk, and white bread for that price. I know that isn't the farmer's fault, but I think it isn't supply and demand, but gouging when you purposefully change the price on the weeks that a good competitor can't make the market.

BTW, these eggs were not organic, nothing special about them. A 100 hen operation.

I have 28 laying hens (I get about 2 dozen a day). They free range all but 1 bag of feed a week (that runs me 50 a month on feed). Now, I give a lot of eggs away to friends and neighbors. For those that buy they purchase for $2 a dozen. I know I'm not a business but at $2 a dozen and giving away half, and eating all I want of the rest I am breaking even. So, no I don't assume that $2 would be a reasonable price, but c'mon $5?

 

[chikadeedoodah]

Quote:
That's the wild thing, we're in the COUNTRY~ Crazy stuff.

 

[chikadeedoodah]

OK, I think I may have just figured it out. We live in the wealthiest county in the nation. Never would have guessed that!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901543.html

 

[Mrs MIA]

I guess it's one thing if you're just selling the extra eggs to help with feed. For larger farms, or businesses that are trying to make a little money, there are a lot more factors that go into it. I can't free range (bears, dogs, lynx, eagles, hawks, owls, yada yada) so I HAVE to buy some sort of feed. I keep costs down as much as I can by spending a little more time on sprouting the less expensive grains instead of just ripping open a bag of feed, but how much is my time worth? We pay about $15 for a 50lb bag of 16% layer pellets, and I was putting out a bag a day. $2.00/dozen isn't going to cut it at those costs. Again, just trying to break even. It would be nice if Organic or "Farm Fresh" was less expensive, but costs of feed, gas, materials all factor in to the final cost of the product.

 

[LynneP]

Owners of layers work very hard to get those eggs, too. I think if the market will bear it, accept it as repayment for your efforts. Here in Canada the laws are so strict that selling at farmgate is the only realistic way to go, but to guarantee a supply of farm-fresh eggs where you are, allow the market to reward you!

 

[Mama C]

I don’t even have my chickens yet, so I am one of those people who gladly pay $4.50/dz for free range eggs at the Farmer’s Market every week. I also purchase pasture raised beef and pork, goat cheese, fruit and vegetables. I find it vastly preferable to watching my children eat food laden with pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics that *I* gave to them because the food supply in this country leaves me little to no choice. My hope is that by this time next year I will be forever done with buying chicken and eggs from commercial sources.

Before I started shopping there regularly I would buy cage free locally produced eggs through the health food store for $4/dz. I started doing this 6-7 years ago, so they weren’t getting that price as a result of Food, Inc., etc. The awareness has simply been building.

I can only spend about $45 a week total at the Farmer’s Market and those purchases must be supplemented with more economical, conventional foods but I feel that it is a step in the right direction. I’m not nearly as concerned about people’s motivations for joining in the current movement (farmers or consumers) as I am about the results of these decisions. Not everyone can afford these changes, but if I can and it changes the system as a whole it will benefit everyone. So $4.50 is worth it for now. I don’t feel ripped off. I feel it is an investment.