How much do you charge per dozen? And location

[Aunt Angus]

I don’t even know how to do that LOL, all my “friends and family” expect them for free, unfortunately

Maybe advertise to neighbors? I'm now an "official" egg farmer. I have permits and everything - lol! And I only have 11 laying chickens!

I'm registering a business name soon, too, since I'm going to be breeding and selling geese. I haven't advertised yet, but I frequently see folks advertising on social media. That's the route I'm going.

I'm also making a website, YouTube channel, and Instagram account, but that'll be more for the geese.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh - also... I stated out just giving them away, and once my friends and family found out I was charging others, they insisted on paying, too.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I don’t even know how to do that LOL, all my “friends and family” expect them for free, unfortunately

If that is ok with you then keep on, but if not, then one suggestion would be to ask friends or fam to buy some feed— tell them your running low, can’t make it to feed store and they would be paid back. They will hopefully understand some of the cost of keeping chicken—maybe offer to pay for eggs. ? sneaky but, hey. Some ppl are oblivious

 

[Happy Helper]

I sell for $2.00 a dozen to my neighbors. My son takes some to work and sells for $3.00 a dozen. I don't want to increase my price when I sell to my friends and neighbors. My chickens are mostly a hobby to keep me from boredom.

 

[FunClucks]

I don’t even know how to do that LOL, all my “friends and family” expect them for free, unfortunately

I was having the same problem, but I found a solution. Unless my friends and family schedule in advance, there just aren't any "free" eggs available. If you want to be on the schedule you have to pay for it. All of the eggs in my house at any given time have a designated purpose. (Even if that purpose is feeding me and my family )

All of my regular customers pre-pay for their eggs as a convenience to them, and they drop by and pickup from my porch on a pre-arranged schedule. I let them know when their credit runs out. $4-5 a dozen. North Alabama. I only have a few customers right now, and they're all friends from church - that makes things easier.

 

[CKfarm22]

I was having the same problem, but I found a solution. Unless my friends and family schedule in advance, there just aren't any "free" eggs available. If you want to be on the schedule you have to pay for it. All of the eggs in my house at any given time have a designated purpose. (Even if that purpose is feeding me and my family )

All of my regular customers pre-pay for their eggs as a convenience to them, and they drop by and pickup from my porch on a pre-arranged schedule. I let them know when their credit runs out. $4-5 a dozen. North Alabama. I only have a few customers right now, and they're all friends from church - that makes things easier.

Ahh good idea!!!!

 

[CKfarm22]

If that is ok with you then keep on, but if not, then one suggestion would be to ask friends or fam to buy some feed— tell them your running low, can’t make it to feed store and they would be paid back. They will hopefully understand some of the cost of keeping chicken—maybe offer to pay for eggs. ? sneaky but, hey. Some ppl are oblivious

I like your idea

 

[FunClucks]

I sell for $2.00 a dozen to my neighbors. My son takes some to work and sells for $3.00 a dozen. I don't want to increase my price when I sell to my friends and neighbors. My chickens are mostly a hobby to keep me from boredom.

I understand where you're coming from, and I respect that. You should do what works for you.

But I have a concern. My problem is, when people sell eggs for a low price (a price that does not reflect the work and supplies and food purchased to keep the chickens healthy and produce the eggs, and especially when they post super low prices on public forums like Craigslist), those of us who are relying on egg sales to support our chickens (pay for feed and other supplies, not to mention the work to clean the eggs and prepare them for market) can't get a decent price for our eggs and can't afford to continue to participate in our hobby because those who are doing it for fun are undercutting the market.

Consumers have an incorrect idea of what eggs should actually cost because grocery store eggs are (were) generally so cheap - the hens are raised and lay in circumstances that would make many of us shudder, but the consumers only see the dollar amount and don't think too much about the care of the animals involved. Farmers markets have helped to combat this somewhat - around here they charge double the grocery store price for farm fresh eggs from well managed healthy chickens, giving consumers the idea that farm eggs are more of a specialty item (consumers don't see the high prices farmers pay to participate in the farmers markets).

But then you have people who post "farm fresh eggs" on Craigslist for under the grocery store price. Are they trying to drive the rest of us out of owning chickens? Are they too lazy to set up a proper distribution system, and just want to unload lots of month old eggs on the market all at once? I question the health and management of the chickens that are producing those low priced eggs, because where are they getting the money to feed them if not from egg sales? Sure, you can just have them forage, or mainly forage, but unless that's carefully managed, their health may degrade over time from lack of the proper nourishment, and they'll die sooner than they would have if given proper nourishment. I don't want my chickens to live that way, but when folks undercut the market, they are making it much harder for me to give my chickens their best life and for the rest of us to be able to afford to do what we love.

 

[Happy Helper]

I understand where you are coming from. I have 23 laying hens and spend around $100 per month for feed. That is going to TSC two times a month and buying 2 bags of Purina Laya Chicken Food each visit. I also will buy the cracked corn or scratch grain for them. They can't forage much in the winter and also, I can't leave them unsupervised because of neighbor dogs.
I am not in the business of selling eggs, nor do I want to see them go to waste. The chickens are for my pleasure, but I just could not charge my neighbor the prices they are charging in the grocery store. They have paid me $2.00 even when they could buy eggs in the store for $1.00. I do not sell anything on Craig's List. I think individuals selling a few eggs do not affect the price, it is the grocery stores and large chicken factory farms that cause the eggs to be so cheap in the stores. That is my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[Alagirl]

I am finally getting lots of eggs again and will be selling them locally in the neighborhood. I feed non gmo feeds, and I have a large yard for my chickens fenced in. Not exactly “free range” but close enough for me. I’m wondering how much to charge per dozen this year. Egg prices are crazy but that doesn’t mean I want to price gouge too. This varies with location so please share with me your locations and price per dozen! Thanks!

currently in my region the 'cheap' eggs got for between 4 and 5 dollars at the big grocery stores.