Advice on selling eggs

[kristenm1975]

My hens have finally started laying again after a long break brought on by the increasingly short days and by their molting cycle. I'm delighted that we now have a small surplus of eggs in our fridge.

I would love to begin selling the ones we can't use but am not sure how to go about it.

I quite often have eggs with little poop smears on them, or bits of bedding stuck to them. I know its healthier to not wash the eggs, but I can't sell them with poop on them, so what do I do?

Also, the sizes of my eggs vary quite a bit, as I have banties and a couple of new layers who are giving me some cute little eggs right now. Is it fair to sell the little eggs in with the big and just charge less per dozen? I was thinking of charging somewhere around $2.50 a dozen.

If there's anyone near my area, can you tell me if I can sell them at a farmer's market or something?

Thanks!

 

[Mahonri]

with odd sizes, I'd say $2.00 a dozen would be fair. $3.00 for a dozen and a half.

And if you are going to sell them, you clean off the poop and bedding.

 

[kristenm1975]

Thanks for the advice! Maybe my boyfriend and I can just eat up any little eggs and save the big ones for selling. I'd like to get as much as is reasonable from them since I've been spending so much on feed for the past few months and still having to buy eggs.

 

[bluey]

Yes, cleaning them is a must! Or you'll get a lot of these looks...

 

[alpinefarm]

I am interested in what others do when sharing eggs, too, so I hope you get a lot of input!

I wash my eggs in warm water in a dishpan (dedicated to this purpose), let them air dry completely in a basket with a clean hand towel, then rub each by hand with a little butter, wipe off excess with cloth or paper towel, and store in their carton in fridge. I have heard folks say they add bleach to the wash water, but I don't like to be around it myself, so I don't. Vinegar is an antibacterial, but I've not tested it to see if it "flavors" the eggs.

Our farm is very remote (45 min drive to the nearest town). So I just deliver to customers when I am in town once or twice a week. Word of mouth is quite an effective way to spread the word that you have extra eggs to offer. I began by giving away a lot of eggs to friends/family and neighbors and getting them "hooked" on fresh farm eggs! Invariably, folks ask for more and asked what I charged, so I created a small flier that explained why my eggs were special (whole grain fed and pastured, etc.) and put this note with the eggs, plus price, phone number and email. Folks save cartons for me and I never seem to run out.

We don't have a local farmers' market:/, so I can't help you there. I could conceivably travel to one each week, but would have to have a lot of eggs to sell to make it worthwhile (and I kind like the way I'm doing it now)...

Local Harvest (online) is a possibility for helping get your eggs noticed and create a clientele.

Best wishes!

Maria

 

[spookyevilone]

If you have any sort of Asian or Somali population around you, you can actually earn more for the tiny eggs. They're used in many traditional dishes. Or you could pickle them and sell them in pint jars. I'm doing both with quail eggs - sort of by accident. I was looking at quail eggs in a local market to find out if there was a breeder nearby. It was the last package, and a lady asked if I was going to buy it. I said no, that I raised my own and was just looking for the farm information on the package. Her eyes lit up like I'd just handed her Christmas and a new puppy all at once. She right then offered me $15/doz for my eggs, which was more than they were selling for in the store.

She has to come to me to pick them up, though. There are permits if I try to sell them outside my own home and I'm chinchy - don't want to spend $200 to sell a dozen eggs a week.

-Spooky

 

[alpinefarm]

I have wondered about permits...sigh...I suppose the local ag extension office is where to inquire?

About little eggs, I have found that families with children *love* to get my bantam eggs. The kids think they are "just their size" and beg to have them with every dozen. So, for those families, I always include a couple.

 

[m00res]

alpinefarm - first, welcome to BYC!! I just sent you a PM. I was interested in finding out about your grain recipe and overall whole grain experience with your girls. I didn't want to wander too far off of this discussion thread so I was wondering if you minded discussing this with me via PM or e-mail. Thanks!

 

[kristenm1975]

Great story about the quail eggs Spooky. I read a farm book a while ago that suggested that as means of providing a little extra income if you already keep poultry and was intrigued by the idea. I'd love to hear more from folks who have quail and sell the eggs. It sounds like quail may be easier to keep than chickens, cheaper to feed, require less space, and are quieter so it makes a LOT of sense to me to keep a nice flock of those too and just have a few hens to keep me happy when I look out to the back yard.

Thanks for all the advice BYC-ers! What a great site this is!

 

[scgamecock]

I package my large egg's up in dozen's and sell them for $2.00.I have some young pullets and also some other breeds that lay small to medium eggs and that's usually what we eat for ourselves.
We package up the mediums in an 18 carton and sell them for the same price and once I got a few people to try them they come back and ask for the 18's.They have figured out that the small to mediums have big yolks in them and are actually richer because of less white.You have to get creative with your packaging.