How much do you sell your eggs for?

[MamaDoolittle]

I sell $3.50 a dozen for large/extra large and $4.00 for the jumbos. I can't keep up with the demand as I only have 3 girls laying with 2 more to start in October. I'm in western Michigan.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I seen these eggs at the Weis store or the giant they were some for free range eggs they were 8 for a whole dozen and for half a dozen they were 4 something that made me mad that people will buy eggs like that from a store at a higher price and can see my sign and say the price is to high. And we live on a back road also but we have a few of cars going to there camps and there houses but other than that there isn't all that many cars. But we live right next to w mountain and over the mountain there we have a lot of farms and but I don't know how many of them sell eggs. over the mountain it is mostly farm land and horse and buggy. My neighbors bought five dozen yesterday for a 1.50 a dozen but I rose enprice back up to 2.00 I was goin to put 2.15 but I didn't.

 

[Andy Wayne]

We sell ours for $3 a dozen.

 

[Roark]

First off - if you offer your birds commercial feed they are anything but "organic", and using that term or label when you are not in fact certified as organic under the USDAh regs will land you in deep poop when they finally get bored chasing raw milk providers. Anyone involved in producing and selling anything food related should join and support FTCLDF.

http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/

Also, there's an old maxim in sales that says if at least 10% of your customers aren't complaining that you're too expensive, then you're probably too cheap, so raise your prices. Nobody ever prospered in a race to the bottom or trying to be the cheapest guy in town. Leave that for the battery hen houses and commercial guys. They raise pale, snotty looking, nutrient deficient, contaminated junk. Educate folks to what makes your eggs special. In business it's referred to as your "unique innovation" or hook if you will, and it's what separates you from the purveyors of runny E coli and salmonella ridden wanna be's. They have to bleach their eggs just to keep them from killing you for cripes sake. That ought'a be worth something, and if people still don't get it - well the heck with them, let 'em eat the bad cholesterol bombs. Helps thin the herd.

The education part can be a little tough sometimes, especially since the industrial machine is so adept at crushing competition. They buy our elected whores to get special legislation that burdens us and limits access to what they see as being "their market". Do your homework and teach people what that means to their access to quality nutrient dense food. Hell, encourage them to join FTCLDF. It helps make them feel like their buying eggs supports a great cause.

Just to show how little the public knows, we live right up the road from Perdue's world H.Q. and they've been advertising for a couple of years now that their BROILERS are raised "cage free", and that no hormones or antibiotics are added to their feed. Well they never did raise broilers in cages, and I've actually had one of their PR jerks admit that they're playing off of an old 60 Minutes report or something that showed how the battery hen houses are actually run, and they use that to create a BS image. As for the crud that they say they no longer put in their feed (which they just ignore while never actually admitting that they invented most of the worst practices), well that's because they now have genetically mutant birds and GMO feed that has it already baked in. The end result is that the customers still get slow-poisoned garbage, it's just packaged a little differently.

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/cage-free_vs_battery-cage.html

http://www.foodwhistleblower.org/wh...n-insight-from-a-contract-chicken-farmer-367/

You or I can probably get shot for claiming to be "organic" if we're not, 'cuz that's a label that's been bastardized to allow the commercial producers to squeeze their fecal matter in and prevent competition. We show people what we do. They can't see that at Walmart or Food Lion. If you wanna advertise and you do follow organic best practices, and you don't use commercial feed, adopt the Joel Salatin verbiage and call it "Beyond Organic". I hope he doesn't trademark it 'cuz it's taken on its own brand identity around here, as well as in central Pa. I'd bet. I've checked with the USDA and they hate the idea of saying that... but it's not illegal... yet. Also, if you feed your pastured birds nothing but certified organic supplements it's also legal to say so. You can claim that your eggs come from birds that are fed nothing but certified organic supplements and pasture grasses, and they can't do a thing about it. It's only when ya get sloppy and just generally reffer to your eggs as being organic that they can legally screw with you. Of course that also assumes that your local Gov't thugs act legally - which many do not, so I say again and again - join FTCLDF!

Seeing and eating is believing, so the sample thing works, but so does keeping a dozen of each of the junk offerings from your local grocer on hand. Buy each one singly and tape the receipt to the carton with a single piece of clear packing tape so folks can read it. Then get a couple of small clear glass bowls from the dollar store to keep handy. Simply break one of theirs in a bowl and then break one of yours. If you're birds forage at all the carotene levels in their yolks will make the side-by-side embarrassingly obvious. Also take note that chicken tractor eggs, even on good pasture, are still not on par with true "Free Range" eggs, so whichever quality level you're at or aspire to be needs to be properly illustrated if you ever wanna be properly compensated. The show-n-tell works especially well at Farmers' Markets btw.

Lastly - we are lucky enough to live on the edge of a small town where we all share a lot of things. On any given day we might have a neighbor drop off a bushel of beets, or a couple of heads of cabbage, 'cuz they know my wife cans a lot and they all want some of her pickles. Another day it might be a bushel of crabs or a striped bass. Made the mistake of casually mentioning to a fisherman neighbor that I read a great article on smoking carp that turns it into something really tasty. Next afternoon he sends my wife home with a 30 pound carp... that I was not in the mood to smoke right then and there. We give an awful lot of eggs away, but we get back much more than we give, and I'm not just talking about Karma. It has also fostered a great deal more sharing by others, and ultimately, if the SHTF tomorrow, I feel a lot more secure in knowing that I have neighbors who already work together, 'cuz that's what civilized living is supposed to be about, but I digress.

Obviously not everyone is that blessed... or maybe they are and just haven't realized it yet? Nothing opens doors like somebody showing up offering free food. Of course in situations where that doesn't necessarily apply or lend itself, look into finding other ways to use your eggs. We make several different kinds of pickled eggs that end up in holiday gift baskets for example. We also raise Kunekune pigs, so any time that we accumulate more than we need or can give away I'll boil them up and feed'em to the pigs. Either way - I'd sooner give them away to someone in need before I sold them to someone for less than they're worth. That just sets a bad precedent that's hard to roll back or advance. Just ask Netflix.

I believe you can click on the following to view as larger images.

 

[Roark]

One more thought on the subject. There is something to be said for establishing your "brand" as exclusive. I've included a pic of a woman's handbag that sells for thousands of dollars, but in the end it's still just a sack for toting junk that can't fit in pockets. Functionally it's the equivalent of one of those ubiquitous T-shirt bags that litter America's landscape. The makers would have you believe that you get what you pay for, but honestly (and particularly with this plain vanilla looking bucket) just what the heck can be worth that much in a simple purse? Instead of trying to compete with the cheapest junk in the area, buy a custom sticker like Eggland I think it is, and brand your eggs as unique and special. Then charge more for them than anybody else. I'm guessing that the "free Range" eggs at the grocer are either bleached, irradiated, or subjected in some way to some sort of chemically organic oxidizer to clean the poop off and provide the grocer with a guarantee that there isn't any E coli or salmonella on the shell at least, so maybe yours are all hand washed under cool filtered water (what we do) or whatever.
Stop worrying about them and what they're doing. They should worry about you.

 

[Don Atkins]

Here in Texas the Dept. of Ag mandates that a supplier to grocery stores must get them to the store before 30 days and then the store must sell them before another 30 days. How many 60 day old eggs do you want? Give your customers the info and then price your eggs as to what the market will bear. Here in central Texas, most eggs from small producers sell from $3 to $6. At some farmers markets here in the Austin area 6 to 8 $ is the going rate because the market vendor fees are so high.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

If you can go to a Farmer's Market and set up a tent, you get more. People want organic there.
My eggs are free range, organic, GMO free, antibiotic free and not washed in a harsh way (commercial eggs are bathed in
clorox or such, and I think that could penetrate the porous shell in some cases).
I sell my jumbo eggs for $6/dz, large for $5, medium for $4.50, mixed dz for $4.50. There are many other folks who raise chickens for eggs in my rural area, too, but for those who don't and who want the really healthy, pure eggs, if you use organic practices you can get a good price. I also grow organic veggies, so the chickens get lots of vegetable leaves and scraps to eat. And there are no pesticides used on my property except on the house or for insects like wasps and yellow jackets in nests when necessary. If you do stuff like that, you can find a market that is willing to pay. Check with health food stores, good restaurants, and Farmer's Markets to maximize what you can get in your area if you are organic.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

I usually say I raise my chickens using "organic practices." I then print a page that describes what those are and display it on the sales table. I'm not a big supplier, but I think that lets my customers know what's happening without going through the licensing, which isn't realistic for a really small operation. I'm near Chattanooga.

 

[MissJane]

I live outside of Erie, PA. My chicks are only 8 weeks old.....counting down the weeks until I get eggs. I buy from a family farm down the road. I pay $3 a dozen and I am happy to. When I go to purchase them I see the chickens free ranging in the yard. I feel confident the chickens are happy, not in a cramped cage/coop or run, and well cared for. That tops the list for me.

When egg prices dropped as low as .59 here I was asked by a family member why I still bought "expensive" eggs. I told her I didn't want cheap tasteless eggs from a big business with unhappy chickens who lived a sad life. I want nutrient rich tasty eggs from a family farm and happy chickens.

 

[Texgal57]

Our Texas Farmer Market sells them for $5.00. They sell out every Saturday.