Free ranged Egg selling prices

[Das777]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread but I didn't quite know were to post it, now that I am finally getting 10-12 eggs (I have 15 hens; 12/15 of the hens lay brown, 2/15 green, and (1/15) white eggs) on good days I was wondering how I should sell them... and for how much. I keep them in a run so would that be considered free range? I feed them about 1/5 5 gallon buckets of cut grass a day and give them about 2 liters of feed in the run (I have a feed dispenser in their coop that is always full) Again I will state that my main question is how much would it be wise to sell the eggs for given the conditions said above. A smaller question that I have is if you have chickens in a run can you sell the eggs as free ranged?

 

[muslw4]

I too would like to hear the answer to your question. I know a lady in Suthern WE area that sells her brown eggs for $2.00 a dozen. The eggs are so large she uses a rubber band to close the egg carton. Also, I've checked the grocery store to see what they charge for "organic" eggs. It's usually between $2.50-$3.00 a dozen around here. Don't know if that helps at all. My parents have had chickens for years but never enough eggs to really sell. They give some away to friends and relatives. I'm just geting into having chickens myself and would like to hear the answer to what is considered to be "free range chickens."

 

[Hoosier_RIRs]

I think prices vary pretty widely depending on where you live.... for example here in north central Indiana free range eggs go for about $2.00 / doz. on average. But I've seen them as high as $5.00 / doz out on the east coast!

 

[hennyannie]

I sell here for 2.50$, Like you I dont "free range", but I do move them around and provide grass, greens, and veggies. I think the most important thing is that the chickens have a natural diet and are kept in clean quarters. This is what i tell the people who buy the eggs, These chickens are almost pets and live the good life, so your eggs have to be better than the ones in stores. I just went up on mine because I wasnt breaking even on feed at 2.00$, Nobody really complained except my aunt! Go figure!

 

[Ogress]

The price would depend on where you live. In the grocery stores out here, Free Range eggs are about of $5 per dozen (I've even seen them close to $6, but they were organic as well as free range), cage free "Natural" (whatever that means) are around $3.50 per dozen. I assume cage free means they have a run, but that is just a guess.

Organic chicken feed in my town is $29 for a 50 lb sack, so I no longer buy organic. I can get locally produced, most ingredients organic from a local farmer for about $16 per 50 pounds, but I spend a lot in gas driving down to buy it. Purina Sunfresh costs about $18 per bag in my town.

I free range my chicken on 1.5 acres and sell the eggs for $3.50 per dozen. I have 10 hens and 20 pullets. I would not consider hens in a run to be free range, unless that run is huge with plants growing in it, or in a tractor where they get fresh grass and fresh soil to scratch at at least daily. When the weather is too terrible to let the hens out, they have to stay in their coops and runs (300 sq feet of covered runs in addition to the coops). I bring them vegetables, bread, yogurt, bananas and other treats when they are stuck in the runs. So far I have not broken even, not even on just feed. Hopefully this will improve once they all start laying.

 

[carrlr]

In southern Illinios I sell them for $2.50 a dozen. Actually I sell them at work in St. Louis. One customer pays me $4 a dozen because he believes their worth it. I don't argue much. My customers don't ask if they're cage free, free range or organic, but they know my girls are outside eating a healthy diet.

 

[Flawedatdesign]

Well I'm in central Mo. They sell from $3-$4 for organic to $1.50 for just whatever. Then I have a friend who can't sell any and gives 10 dozen a week away.

 

[TDM]

Even though we typically have 65 laying hens in a 100 ft by 100 ft fenced enclosure that gets moved every three or four days, they are not considered free ranged. Our eggs are sold as pastured. You might be able to get away with selling your eggs as "free range" until somebody finds out what you are actually doing. Then your reputation as a supplier will be ruined. At best, since you have no pasture, you are "cage free".

 

[Hoosier_RIRs]

As a totally true "free ranger" (I don't have anything that even resembles a fence on my property....) I would tend to believe that organic vs free range vs pasture raised has little bearing on the quality of the product. The buyer (if sensitive to all this verbatim) needs only to be informed about the quality of care, quality of feed and water, and quality of of life and living for the hens producing.
My eggs aren't "organic".... because I buy their feed at tractor supply, but I've bought organic, free range, and pasture raised in the past... and can't really tell the difference. It (in the end) comes down to if the hen is happy, content, and well cared for that drives the decision of most folks... the hard core organic guys are gonna pay whatever for the same quality as pasture raised... so just be good to your ladies, and sell the eggs at a fair price! just my opinion....

 

[NYRIR]

My chickens have 3/4 of an acre....there is a perimeter fence but they can (and occasionally do) venture out.I consider my eggs Free range.They are out from morning til night.Most people around here are selling cage free eggs (meaning I see the chickens in a run)for 3.00 I am selling mine for only 2.50 since I just want to take a bite out of the feed bill.I buy my feed at TSC and it is not organic.