how much do you charge for your eggs?

[heaven1]

We give away eggs to one of our neighbors, a friend of theirs who decorates eggs (and gave us a couple of beautiful ones in return) and I share them with the seniors that live in the affordable housing where I work as a serive cordinator. We also sell them to co-workers for $3/dozen.

 

[clairabean]

I do $3/doz for my blue banty eggs- organically fed.

Some around here are up to $5/doz for regular eggs.

 

[seedgal608]

I agree with the statement: If you want a premium price you have to produce a premium product.

Our family will be getting chickens this coming February. When they start laying and we have enough available to sell we will be asking for a premium price. If noone in our area wants to pay that price, we'll put them in the freezer for future use in baking.

Our hens will be free ranged and fed organic feed. I am also considering making my own feed that will be soy-free from organic sprouted grains. I am looking into raising worms, meal worms and crickets for the hens' winter rations for next winter so they're not so dependent on grains for their feed. Growing a variety of winter greens and sprouts. The eggs these hens produce will be superior to anything sold in the stores. Why should I give them away?

People need to be educated about what they are really buying in the stores, even the organic ones.

At the farmer's market I will have signs that show pictures of the truth of store produced eggs, even the so called free range and organic eggs. We'll have a picture book showing our hens with their names enjoying the great outdoors. Also, the pictures of the abused caged birds where the store bought eggs come from.

I'll show a comparison of our eggs versus their eggs.


http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/09/organic-egg-report-and-scorecard/


http://www.eggindustry.com/

What about the nutrition in eggs raised this way?

What do people pay for a candy bar at the check out counter? The nutritional value of one of these eggs is way beyond one candy bar. I don't see any reason why my one egg shouldn't be worth at least .50 if a candy bar sells for .70 or more.

I don't see myself in competition with the person selling eggs for $1/doz. in my area. They aren't raising their chickens the way I will. There is no comparison other than freshness. $1/ doz is a slap in the face (as far as I'm concerned) to someone raising the hens.

You get what you pay for. If you raise a premium product, please stop giving it away.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Seedgal, valid points all around! However, I will say that if you can't find the customers to sell your eggs to, you could be SWIMMING in eggs.

From someone who was getting 2 dozen eggs a day and selling only 2-3 dozen a week, we had to throw a ton out. (I had over 40 layers by October). I agree you shouldn't give your eggs away, except on special occasions. But if you can't find customers to pay what you are asking, then you will be stuck with them. Freezing is fine. You could always scramble them up and feed them back to your chickens. I can't imagine my own freezer chuckablock full of eggs...but we have a tiny freezer. You're bound to have more than you can use at some point.

I didn't make any attempt to advertise until my girls started to slow down their laying. I could have sold every egg twice over this fall for all the people wanting my eggs. Let's see if it is like that in the spring. I sold my eggs for $2 dozen. I will likely bump that up to $2.50 or $3 a dozen. We have a TON of farmers and amish in our area...I can't compete with their prices, but as long as I get something for the eggs, I'm happy. If it supplements my chicken addiction, again, I'm happy.

If I had to "live" solely on the sale of my eggs, I'd be doing a lot more marketing. My friend lives in Philly and gets $5 a dozen. Again, it all depends on where you live and if you can build a customer base.

 

[aria122]

Hello all.

I live between Sacramento and SanFransisco. I have a small flock of free range chickens that eat layer pellets and scratch. We sell our 'rainbow eggs' (lots of various browns, whites, and EEggers colors). $5.00 a dozen. $7 a dozen if we put two duck eggs instead of two chicken eggs.

I started out selling them for $3 but I had a friend tell me "Aim high, you can always bring you prices down if people aren't buying them"

And i think she's right....

 

[JLS]

I sell my free-range, vegetarian fen, rainbow eggs for $3 doz. I believe that I could sell them for at least $4 doz. There's a huge market for eggs like my hens produce. I cannot keep up with the demand.

 

[OkChickens]

I have 27 Red Stars and 5 EE hens and I get around 20-30 eggs daily except when weather changes 80 degrees in 3 days. On sunday it was 75 degrees and yesterday the low was -5. I got 15 yesterday and they were frozen solid so I fed them back and today I have got 5 so far. I get $3 for a dozen large eggs and $3.50 a dozen for Extra Large and Jumbo! I am thinking about trying $3.50 and $4 but I'm not sure if I should try. Ideas? Thanks.

-Nate

 

[Fred's Hens]

Nate, you'll never know til you try.

Everyone's market is different. Local economy, knowledgeable buyers, etc. In some areas, there simply are more people willing to pay for the perceived value. In other areas, no way, no market exists that goes very far above the local WalMart pricing, no matter the quality.

Here's to hoping you have buyers willing to pay more.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Fred's Hens :

Nate, you'll never know til you try.

Everyone's market is different. Local economy, knowledgeable buyers, etc. In some areas, there simply are more people willing to pay for the perceived value. In other areas, no way, no market exists that goes very far above the local WalMart pricing, no matter the quality.

Here's to hoping you have buyers willing to pay more.

x2.

 

[krazeepolack]

I live in the desert, so I guess you'd call that rural?

In the middle of almost nowhere, I see no reason not to charge the $3 per dozen which I do.

With the cost of feed & the work it takes to do this, if anyone wants cheaper, (lesser grade, pale, soggy eggs) I figure they can get those gooey slimey one's from wally smart.

The stores & big box joints don't have to fend off predators, injuries, sick chickens, etc etc. We BYC'ers do!!!!!