How many here sell their eggs for eating?

[warhorse]

What types of eggs do you sell and how much do you charge? I was lamenting the whole "cage free" "free range" versus "pasture raised" argument. Mine, so far, are kept 4 each in 4x8ft tractors to protect from predators and I will be putting the dadgum leghorns and sexlinks (12 of them) down at the barn in a 6x36ft space with possibly a larger yard added.

Do you wash your eggs? I have not had much problem with dirty eggs except when it rains and they get mud on their feet and track it into the nests, and then I generally let the dirt dry and then just scrape it off.

How do you package your eggs? Do you buy your own custom egg cartons? Any way you mark the packages to identify date collected? I think I prefer cardboard with the little holes in them, but so far I am just recycling from the grocery store. I also have some flats that the VFW likes to use when they make their monthly breakfasts, but those seem to be a pain to keep in the fridge. Any suggestions? I was thinking of getting a cheapie bigger fridge for the barn (I currently have a small apartment size one) to keep eggs as well as gatorade, water, medications, etc.

Are you USDA inspected? I had looked into pony rides and petting zoo at one time and had some information on USDA inspection, but I lost that information. Does someone have a link?

 

[Chicken03]

I sell some of my eggs. I always wash them off with water. I just put them in egg cartons that family members and friends give me. I have been charging 2.00 for a half dozen. You may not be able to get that much where you live or maybe you can get more.

 

[Schultz]

We sell eggs to family and locally. We ask if they want them washed because some people we sell to do not want them washed or refridgerated. We use egg cartons family members have saved for us. I sell ours for $3.00 for 18 without carton and $4.00 with carton. We also have a fridge we got for free from craigslist that we use in the garage for the eggs (and DH's beer)!
As for marking the carton, I use packing tape and mark it which to use/sell first. We normally fill an 18 pack in 2 days with our little flock so it works out well.

 

[agirly4chicks]

Quote:
How many laying hens do you have?

 

[Robin L]

I sell my eggs as fast as the girls can lay them for $2.00 a dozen (think I could get more per dozen but dont) When they first order eggs I tell them if they want to keep the eggs at $2.00 a dozen then they need to give me the carton back even if in bad shape (Ill throw it) but I was running low one week so I got some misprinted cartons from EggCartons.com and it was about 25 cent per carton.

Edited to add:
I keep the older eggs on one side of the frig and new ones on the other, even 11 year old knows but I really dont keep that many at a time because I have a waiting list for eggs.
Only wash eggs if they are really dirty (damp paper towel)

 

[Schultz]

14

 

[JessaLynn]

I wash my eggs if needed and use cartons donated to me or have my customers bring me there egg cartons to fill.Right now I sell them $1.50 doz but have sold them for $2 depending on feed prices.I don't date them only because they sell quick.How many hens do you have? I keep about 50 and that's plenty for us.I have a fresh eggs for sale sign out front and get reg. customers.Any new customers I give them a doz. free just to say thank you for stoping by and for them to try them out because I know they will come back

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I sell them to family and friends. I charge $2.50 to $3.00 per dozen. I dont wash the eggs unless they are dirty.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

1.50 a doz, I don't wash, if a little dirty i use a pot scrubber, if to dirty we have a friend who doesn't care and he gets them for free

all of our cartons are donated, it will be years before we run out. I'm getting about 3 doz a day. very rarely we have eggs more than 5 days old. all my sales are word of mouth, haven't had a sign out for 2 years.

 

[azelgin]

We sell "nest run" for $2.00 a dozen. Most people tell us we could sell them for more. $2.00 is OK for now. We have an ice chest hung on the fence by our driveway, with a coffee can inside for folks to make change and leave their money in. No thefts yet. Self serve egg sales. People are only unhappy when we run out.

We don't wash them. We just wipe off any dust, dirt, or straw, with a dry towel. Anything dirty of strange looking, we keep for ourselves. We printed up an info sheet about the"bloom", washing before eating, blood spots, how long eggs keep, what our chickens eat, etc. and tape it to the inside of the ice chest lid for everyone to read. We also ask them to save us cartons and we always seem to end up with more than we give out. We are easily able to sell all the eggs we put out for sale.

We write the date the eggs were collected on the end of the carton with a Sharpie. Lets us know which eggs to get rid of first. Lets folks know they are getting fresh eggs. Gives us an idea of how long an egg carton lasts. I actually like the clear plastic tri-fold best. Easy to peel of the store label and the different shades of eggs look pretty for everyone to see. We are going to do some labels for ourselves. . . . someday.

We are not inspected. AZ has some rules based on how many dozen sold per year before inspection is necessary. We will sell less than that amount. And, since we sell only off our own property, who's to say how many we actually sell?