Egg Co-op?

[rusty acres]

I have 13 chickens, which produce way more eggs than my family of 5 can possibly eat. My plan was to sell the extra eggs to friends and people I know at work. It turns out it's not that simple in the state of Florida. I've recently discovered Florida makes it quite difficult and prohibitive to sell eggs from your small backyard flock. So I'm in the position of either downsizing my flock or getting creative with getting my eggs to other people. Has anyone been involved in an egg co-op? Or some sort of partial ownership "buy-in" arrangement? Or any other distribution arrangements? I love all my girls, I really don't want to downsize, but we are swimming in eggs!

 

[9chickenwhisperer]

Where in Florida if I may ask?

 

[rusty acres]

Where in Florida if I may ask?

Orlando, east side of town

 

[Enid11]

Where I live people just put a sign outside "fresh eggs" or we sometimes take them to a country store and they pay me per dozen. It's a pittance, but frees me some counter space.

 

[rusty acres]

Where I live people just put a sign outside "fresh eggs" or we sometimes take them to a country store and they pay me per dozen. It's a pittance, but frees me some counter space.

Do you have the food permit that Florida requires? To me, those requirements are ridiculous for someone only wanting to sell 3-6 dozen eggs per week, considering it applies to anywhere from 1-999 chickens. My husband is worried about litigation if someone were to become ill from our eggs (or blame our eggs for illness), so he really wants it to be above board.

 

[KDMdesigns]

Have you gotten the word out that you have some available for purchase without advertising(word of mouth)? You'd be amazed some of your neighbors might be interested.

 

[PirateGirl]

Do you have friends with goods or services you can trade with? I am hoping to trade eggs for honey and maple syrup, maybe peaches when the time comes. I gave eggs to a neighbor who helps me out from time to time. I will give eggs to my friend who is helping install our new flooring. I know it doesn't help pay for the chicken food... I have also had friends offer to buy any extra eggs from me before my girls were even laying.

Or can you get more creative in your cooking to use more eggs so they don't go to waste? Quiche, souffle?

Or feeding them back to the chickens is really good for the chickens and would cut back on the chicken's feed bill.

 

[PirateGirl]

I have 13 chickens, which produce way more eggs than my family of 5 can possibly eat. My plan was to sell the extra eggs to friends and people I know at work. It turns out it's not that simple in the state of Florida. I've recently discovered Florida makes it quite difficult and prohibitive to sell eggs from your small backyard flock. So I'm in the position of either downsizing my flock or getting creative with getting my eggs to other people. Has anyone been involved in an egg co-op? Or some sort of partial ownership "buy-in" arrangement? Or any other distribution arrangements? I love all my girls, I really don't want to downsize, but we are swimming in eggs!

Creative financing. What if someone were to buy you a 50lb bag of chicken food and you were to give them a fair amount eggs in return? Like they get a dozen eggs a week for a month?

 

[rusty acres]

Creative financing. What if someone were to buy you a 50lb bag of chicken food and you were to give them a fair amount eggs in return? Like they get a dozen eggs a week for a month?

I like the way you think! Something like that could work. Also, feeding the eggs back to the chickens is a good idea, too. I wish I knew more people I could barter with because that would be amazing!

 

[rusty acres]

Have you gotten the word out that you have some available for purchase without advertising(word of mouth)? You'd be amazed some of your neighbors might be interested.

For me, the problem isn't finding people to buy them. It's making sure the process is reasonably above board, because my husband is paranoid about being sued. His faith in humanity, maybe justly, isn't as strong as mine.