My wife and I have a flock of 18 mixed breed birds that are just starting to lay (Red Stars the first, what tiny eggs!) and so we're debating about what price to sell for. We figure-while being conscious of "not counting chickens..."-that with 6 Orpingtons, 6 Arecauna and 6 Stars, we'll be getting around 6-7 dozen a week, meaning we'll have to unload at least 5 dozen while reserving two for us and immediate family. My neighbor down the road has a flock of 30 older hens (egg production between one and two dozen a day, last time I checked) , had been free-ranging them until a fox claimed two and sells his for $4. We have been buying from him in the spirit of neighborliness, though most people here sell theirs for 3-3.50; often, as with our eggs, there is a mix of different eggs, some small some extra large. A farm store sells theirs for $5, which is high because they are not the producers but buy from a farm-but apparently they sell so people are willing to pay more.
There is one gal that completely free-ranges them (they sleep outside in the trees, another story) and sells hers for $3.50 (unwashed, go figure); I don't think the "free range" and "organic" labels matter so much as the simple fact that they are being raised humanely and in a healthy manner. After eating her eggs, though, I vowed to never eat another store-bought egg again (not followed through with, as we continued to use store-bought for baking).
So, back to our price, we plan on selling ours for $4/dozen, partly due to the fact that we don't want to appear to be trying to undercut our neighbor but also because I think our eggs are worth the trouble we have gone to to get the hens to the point of laying. We completely free-ranged them until the poop became a nuisance and now they are in a fenced in yard which we will be expanding continuously as time allows. Coop is 8 X 8 and since they only come inside to lay and sleep, we think we will actually be adding more birds next evolution (maybe a total of 30).
Based on the stats I'm reading, egg consumption is skyrocketing; the average Joe is eating somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 eggs/year. We are hoping this trend continues and are pretty certain the demand for fresh eggs will probably outpace conventional consumptive habits. We are envisioning down the road, offering "shares" to people once we have steady, predictable egg production, in the manner of the local farms which offer share in the form of CSAs ( Community Supported Agriculture);in that system, people pay a certain amount (say, $300) for an assured weekly quantity of whatever vegetables are then available at the farm. similarly, people would perhaps pay us a monthly amount to be assured a certain quantity of eggs every month; probably someone is already doing this, or perhaps eggs are included in the CSA share but whatever the case, we are hopeful we can "bank" on having a known number of customers so that we are not resorting to Facebook and a sign at the end of our driveway...my 200 cents worth.
*for reference purposes, we are in Maine
