Our Little Egg Business

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Somebody was grossly exaggerating or pulling your leg...

 

[wingsofglory]

Was that a personal check to the officer?

 

[ShortCircuitRanch2332]

Haha I was told at the code enforcement office that the 30,000 dollars was for inspectors,surveyors, and a scientific team to make sure my business didn't interfear with the Mohave desert tortous.........and no I'm not joking 3 people said the same thing the same day

 

[Floridachicken1958]

I love this idea of posting signs by the road that stats FARM FRESH EGGS.Here at my grocery store the eggs are $2 a dozen but I don't think really understand where there eggs are really comming from.Free range chickens are more healthier for you.Right no w I only have 2 hens laying But about 30 pullets about 3months old.So by the end of summer I should have alot of eggs for sale. Just don't know about code enforcement. I have been selling alot of roosters from posting on craigslist. Right now only eggs I get is theone my grandkids & myself eat.

 

[wsdareme]

With regards to whether or not you can legally sell your eggs, you'll have to check with your state's Dept. of Agriculture to see what is allowed.

I live in Washington state, and here below are the rules as stated in the WSDA Egg Safety Section. As you can see, I can sell my eggs on my farm without a permit or license as long as I handle them properly:

Farmers Markets & Direct to Retail

Farmers selling eggs (from a chicken, goose, turkey, duck, guinea, or any species of fowl) at farmers markets and through direct to retail sales (i.e. restaurants and grocery stores) must comply with the requirements of RCW 69.25 and be licensed through the Washington State Department of Licensing (WSDOL) as an Egg Handler/Dealer. Local health districts have jurisdiction over farmers markets in their areas and may conduct market inspections to assure vendor compliance with local rules and regulations.

Direct to retail sales also require obtaining Egg Seals from the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

On-Farm Sales & CSA

Poultry or egg producers may sell eggs from their own flocks directly to the end consumer from the place of production without the purchase of an Egg Handler/Dealer License or Egg Seals from WSDA

Shell eggs are a perishable food and must be handled properly with care under cold and sanitary conditions to assure consumer safety.

 

[Floridachicken1958]

wsdareme I'm trying to find the rules for Florida but can't seem to locate them,Would you mind if I ask you to kindly give me a helping hand.
thank you!!!

 

[stcroixusvi]

I think I need my layers, oops, mean lawyers look over the documents for NC:

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

edited to add: my favorite line from the document:

""Eggs" means product of a domesticated chicken in the shell or as further processed egg products."

 

[wsdareme]

Quote:
Wow, there doesn't seem to be much straight-forward info for Florida for people like us that just want to sell our extra eggs at the point-of-lay.

Here is some information from a U of Florida website: http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu/livestock_and_forages/pdf/Guidelines for Selling Eggs.pdf

I would call the FL Dept of Agriculture and ask them specifically for the rules that apply to NON-commercial farms that just want to sell eggs to individuals.

Try using Google to search for topics such as "selling farm fresh eggs in Florida", "Florida Dept of Agriculture egg regulations", etc.

 

[Floridachicken1958]

There are so many rules for florida that it aint real.well if the USDA would really look how the big egg producers are housing chickens they would think twice about giving them license to sell eggs.Atleast the small farmer don't really have a leg to stand on.The Florida rules are stupid.Lets see if it stats in the state of Florida that if there is a law that if I were to sell my egg cartons and give the eggs for free. If there is a will ,there is a way.there is a lop-hole in every law made.

 

[Cosmopolis Chick]

Quote:
Holy cow! Where do you live that eggs are $8 a dozen??? I have seen one sign locally for $1.50 per dozen, but most are around $2.50 to $3.00. Since I don't have more than a dozen eggs per day and don't want people flocking to the barn just to find an empty refrigerator, we put our sign on the country lane we live on, so I'm guessing my only customers are the folks that live down the lane from us. They keep us cleaned out of eggs, for sure!

I don't feed certified organic feeds (too expensive), so I can't claim the eggs are "organically grown". We don't free range because of hawks and eagles and the high probability that the Girls would find someplace (anyplace) besides their nest boxes to lay their eggs. So I can't advertise them as "free range eggs" either. I do have a nice coop and good sized enclosed run and some very happy hens.

Like a couple of you have mentioned, I also have some up-and-coming pullets that should be laying by the end of summer, so maybe we'll have a few more dozen to sell each week.

We just get a hoot out of these "county folks" that have never eaten home-grown eggs and marvel at the orange yolks and the VERY hard, multi-colored shells.

Oh, just a note -- I started out putting little printouts in the egg cartons giving information about our different breeds and what color eggs they lay, including the Girls' names. Everyone got a kick out of that. I think it's just a nice, homey way of giving our neighbors more of a connection to where their food comes from. Some of them have even asked to see the coop and the Girls. They thought it was pretty neat!

$8.00 a dozen!

yeepers! Good for you!
I was getting $4.00 doz during winter/spring but now that prices at the stores have gone down I had to drop to $3.
I just have a crummy little hand-lettered sign "FRESH BROWN EGGS!". I only have 1 to 2 doz a week to spare from our own use otherwise I'd get a Vistaprint lawn sign such as I got for my quilting classes.

Now I see I 'quoted' on the wrong poster - sorry I too lazy to go back & fix it.