A few ?s for those who give away/sell eggs

[kizanne]

1. Do you put a date (like lay/collected date) on the carton?
Don't date the eggs I sell to coworkers never exceed 3 days old and that's the Friday through the weekend collection for Monday delivery.

2. Do you tell them to store them counter top instead of in the fridge? (I have heard that this is the preferred method of storing fresh, un-washed eggs)
I refrigerate them and only wash if they are dirty

3. Do you tell them that they are not washed (for longer freshness) and that they should wash them before use?
The ones I talk to regular about my chickens, my friends, know they aren't washed. Anyone else only if they ask. I sent out an email in the beginning to determine interest. I included my raising practices and egg treatment. Now I just send out I have let me know if you want them.

4. Are your eggs fertile (do you have a roo in with your hens)? And if so, is there anything different about the eggs or anything/reason to tell the buyers? Typically store bought eggs (even free range) are not fertilized, is this correct?
My egg are not fertile, no rooster. Store bought commercial eggs are never fertile, free range would depend on if they free range with a rooster.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Your state will have regulations on what should be marked on cartoons and what you can not. i.e you can't write organic unless you've been certified, you must write your address and family or farm name. My surrounding states allow reuse of cartoons.

Personally I tell my customers the eggs are unwashed. We keep any dirty ones.

I fridge eggs unless aging them for boiling (easy peeling if kept on counter for few days).

 

[kizanne]

Quote:
She is right about that. I sell mine just to friends and co-workers so I don't really worry about or follow the 'rules'.

 

[featherz]

I don't wash my eggs. Anything that's dirty I keep for myself or give back to the chickens (depending on how dirty). I have a LOT of eggs and I don't sell that many, so I date them each day with a regular pen and I do place them in the fridge. I generally just sell to friends and coworkers and no one has ever asked or cared if they are fertile - I have one roo with 40+ hens so chances are good that most of mine are not.

I generally won't sell eggs that are over two weeks old, although I'll bring them to work as 'free' if I have a surplus of older/smaller eggs, never more than a month old. Plenty of people are happy to take free eggs!

At one month I feed them to the chickens or lately I've been trying dehydrating and powdering.

 

[runsw/scissors]

I generally don't have any to spare... however when I do I give them away to a very few people.

I write the date on the egg when I collect them, if they are dirty I rinse them in plain water and then wipe them clean. Then I put them in the fridge. The eggs I wipe/rinse go in the fridge the rest I keep on the counter.

I don't have any cartons, so the eggs are put in whatever I happen to have around, usually a sack.

People I give to know they are fertile, but I don't explicitly tell them so, it should be obvious as I have 2 roos with 8 hens.

GORGEOUS egg btw! My first eggs is usually sorta odd looking...

 

[tyjaco]

I DO like to date my eggs. That's how I know which ones are "old" enough to hard boil...

 

[LiLRedCV]

I used to write the dates on the individual eggs, but now I just use freezer tape to write "week laid" with the date and stick that to the egg carton. Usually, my eggs are gone before the weeks out tho', so I don't even really think this is absolutely necessary. Whatever eggs I have left after two weeks (if I'm not planning to hard boil them for us) end up being recycled back to the flock or even our dog.

The eggs we keep for ourselves, I don't refrigerate. They stay out on the counter tops in a bowl and get used up pretty quickly. However, not everyone is as familiar or comfortable with this method, so I refrigerate those I'm planning to sell.

I only wash if there's been an exceptionally dirty nest and that's a rarity. We keep those eggs for ourselves. Otherwise I just don't bother washing. The neighbors who buy my eggs know this...

Neighbors bring over used egg cartons they have - when they do this, I give them a cheaper rate. If I have to provide the carton? Well, it costs them more too so there's a lot of recycling going on!

We have only 1 roo - an Iowa Blue - to service 39 gals (although, technically, we have 2 roos - just one is housed at the "Green Mile" coop at the other end of the property) so odds are the mass majority of the eggs I gather are not fertilized. No one really seems to care about this tho'....

 

[JusticeFamilyFarm]

Thank you all so much for your replies! Such great information. I will only be giving and selling eggs to friends, so I'm not so much worried about rules and regs in my area, I was just kind of wondering what others do before I make up a little label to put on my recycled cartons (over the grocery store brand

). It helped a lot to read what others do and don't do. Also, I had kind of been wondering about the whole fertile vs. not fertile thing, so to hear most of you say there isn't a difference for consumption makes me feel better. I haven't really ever had fresh eggs before (not on a regular basis anyway), so I'm a total newbie to all things eggs.

Thanks again!

 

[JusticeFamilyFarm]

BTW... we've gotten an egg a day for 4 days in a row since our first egg, so exciting! Now if only the other 11 girls would catch on.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Good questions. Can't wait to read what others have to say.

Ditto these answers.