Is it Illegal to Sell Chicken Eggs?

[Hoover Hatchery]

I live in Missouri and know many ppl that do it around here. But my question would be, can I do it times a thousand? How many eggs can I be selling till it is too much of a business? And if its a business, what do I have to do to be legal?

 

[aart]

I live in Missouri and know many ppl that do it around here. But my question would be, can I do it times a thousand? How many eggs can I be selling till it is too much of a business? And if its a business, what do I have to do to be legal?

You'd need to research your local and state laws.

 

[bobbi-j]

You'd need to research your local and state laws.

X2

 

[matt44644]

x3

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

X4 on researching your state laws. You farm extension is usually a good place to start. Also, if you do go forward with it I highly recommend liability insurance (most carriers offer ag/farm policies). This will protect you and your property if some gets sick or injured.

 

[CrazyTalk]

I'm not one to "sell" anything to family, I will probably end up giving them eggs if they ask in the future. We mainly wanted eggs for ourselves, but I was just curious about the laws if any - I couldn't find anything online, that says that it's legal or illegal to sell eggs.

If the government says it's okay to sell eggs, why is it illegal (in most states) to sell milk or meat from your other farm animals?

Because contaminated meat and milk have killed a lot more people in this country than contaminated eggs. The shell helps keep the edible material clean.

It's also not illegal anywhere that I know of to sell meat or milk - you just need to follow proper procedure, and have proper facilities. I can sell meat here (chicken with basically nothing) and other things if I let the USDA inspect my facilities. Milk you have to pasteurize in most states - this is mostly because there was a time where farmers weren't very clean and made a lot of people sick with unpasteurized milk.

 

[ImNotYogi]

I see signs for eggs around here all the time. The only thing I've read about laws regarding it applies to those who sell more than 30 dozen a week. So basically a business rather than overflow from a backyard flock.

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

I see signs for eggs around here all the time. The only thing I've read about laws regarding it applies to those who sell more than 30 dozen a week. So basically a business rather than overflow from a backyard flock.

Looks like NC is pretty farmer friendly. Here's what I found (sorry if you already have it!)

http://www.ncagr.gov/fooddrug/food/egglaw.htm

http://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-meatandeggs/

Pretty awesome, I unfortunately live in a state that would tax me per egg if they could!

 

[ImNotYogi]

Where I live is definitely farmer friendly. I drive by several homesteads on my way to work and there's a horse across the street from me. There's even a house that sells rabbits (live or dressed) along with eggs.

 

[jaredthefox]

I did some research on this subject for Texas. I found that it was illegal to sell eggs to a distributor without a license but it is not illegal to sell directly to a customer. Example: I can't sell to a store and than a store sell to the customer without a license. I can sell to each individual customer all I want. They do still require in texas whether licensed or not that eggs be kept at all times at 45 deg or lower. If your not licensed in Texas you must put ungraded eggs on the carton nutrition facts and keep refrigerated on the egg cartons. You can buy egg cartons that have all that info already on it though for about .50 a piece. I'm looking at talking to my local feed store about "renting" an area of their store for selling eggs and chicks. That way it's my eggs that they are buying from me just at their location .