I went to Italy and left my flock of hens of 14 to the Hubby...not his fault but a stray dog caught one of my hens...hubby and a friend chased the dog down and rescued the sqwaking hen, but I was told that it must have died of shock later... I'm sad, but for a first time CHICK owner, I do understand that is the chance I take with letting my hens have free-range of our 5 acres... which brings me to this question...is that what my hens are...FREE RANGE? I have never caged them and they have a wonderful coop and run/pen... Question, so now I have 3 RI Reds and 10 High Yield Reds... theyall started laying about a month ago at the age of 4 months! Their eggs started out small in the first weeks, but all are now medium sized and great tasting eggs ... I had been handing the eggs out to family and friends but now I'm ready to sell the eggs ...I THOUGHT my eggs were called "Free-Range Eggs, but I do provide them with Tractor Supply Feeds, that is: DuMor Layer 16%, Cracked Corn, Purina DuMor Winning Show Feed, and Layena... I keep these feeds available at all times, as the hens are allowed to free range from about 10:30-11:00 in the morn when I let them out and gather their eggs... until they go to their roost at sundown...SO, do I label my eggs as Free- Range Eggs or what? I live in Central Oklahoma ... Edmond, OK...at what price a dozen do I sell my eggs? Do I reuse egg cartons or do I buy new cartons? Thanks!
Yep, they are free range. Check your local grocery store for prices, that will give you an idea of what to sell them for.
You can reuse the cartons, unless soiled...I have had friends collecting their old ones for me for over a year.. you could put a personalized label on them with say, a name of your "company", like Egg Farms, or whatever cute name you come up with, and maybe a couple instructions, "wash before using", maybe tell them it takes longer to boil a fresh egg, ( 12 min actually) You COULD buy them, but why...some people give discounts, 25 cents, whatever, to customers who return the carton for more. I live in Southern Colorado, I am going to start at $2.00 a dozen, I have heard in some areas, in NY for example, $7.00.... People will pay what you ask usually, if they know what they are getting, but check around, see what the grocery store sells free range, cage free eggs, and base it off what your customers say... I don't want to get rich, I want to be able to at least buy more feed...and of course supply family and friends with great eggs!
Once my 8 RIRs began laying consistently & I realized I was getting 7 to 8 eggs per day for just my DH & I. Friends & relatives had enough. What do I do with the rest of them, 2 to 3 dozen per week. My girls are not organic, nor are they "free-range," since they are in their large run most of the day. So I put an ad in Craig's List, for "backyard eggs," looking for someone who wants 1 to 2 dozen per week. Happily, I was lucky enough to find a caterer who'll purchase all my extras every week. We negotiated the price, a little less than I wanted, but for me the convenience was worth it. I get $2 per dozen, and he supplies the cartons. I can at least cover their feed & treats, and still have enough free eggs for my family.
