re: Please Don't Undercharge for Your eggs!

[Dixiedoodle]

I am sorry you are struggle--as many other small business owners must be at the time but as any business person will tell you--YOU must find your own niche in any business. The amount of profit you make will depend on your market, your marketing skills and your product.

 

[Oblio13]

I don't think it's possible to make a significant profit from a home flock, so I don't even try. I think of chickens as a "hobby with benefits". I perhaps pay for their feed by selling hatching eggs, but the housing and everything else comes out of our pockets.

We keep heirloom breeds that please us, and appreciate the bug control and fertilizer for the garden and of course the entertainment. Those things are impossible to quantify.

We give our excess eggs to friends, neighbors and coworkers, who appreciate the freshness and unusual colors as well as the thought. My wife usually puts them in baskets she buys at thrift stores. I suppose you could say we buy good will with our eggs.

 

[happyheart]

Yep i have to agree with Quail 100 % I do charge $2.00 a dozen out here in the country for all my neighbors now in the big city of Columbus where my husband sells them he charges $3.00 for handleing fees I have to laugh at that one

Sorry I would never pay that much for eggs it is Ridiculous!
Then again i guess it depends on where you are in the country and how much money you got to burn

 

[colby318]

Dear Rachel,
You didn't say where you live...
Eggs sales are regional. New Yorkers can sell eggs for highers prices than I can ask in KY. Have you networked to restaurants, B&Bs, other businesses that want to use state raised meat and produce to advertise THEIR businesses?

Have you considered raising broilers humanely?

Have you tried selling only heirloom breed birds? You can become a respected breeder of Marans, Cochins, Polish or other hatching eggs that can command a higher fee than a dozen "browns".

We BYCers are a support group, not the competition.

Colby in KY

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

Hi all.
Rachel have you thought about other value added things you can do with eggs in effort to turn a better proffit?
I did a lot of pickled eggs last summer for a local guy...who happens to own a bar...not that he would sell my illegal pickled eggs in said barwink wink... Anyway I sold them for $6/doz, he sold them at a dollar each. In my area people have the magic $1/doz still in their heads even though the grocery store sells this week for 1.87 for general store bought. There are also opportunities to sell chicks and I think hatching eggs were mentioned. Run a search and look for the link about polimer (sp?) clay covered eggs. I'd pay good money for a few of those. It's just a matter of looking for more opportunities and open doors than you may see right now. Good luck.

 

[AHappychick]

Quote:
Same here when I have an extra dozen I have buyers I call up and I get $6 a dozen, in the cheapest grocery by me organic eggs are 2.59 a 1/2 dozen and up to 3.99 a 1/2 dozen so I am right at what my area price range is. And mine are only a day or two old not weeks like the ones in the stores.

I think it all depends, but I don't think anyone who has chooks should be told what or how much to charge or if they should even give them away, although I understand you are struggling that is usually the way with new businesses. From what I know most companies do not turn any profit the first 2 years many actually barely stay afloat but it is thought that after the 2 years you either lean to swim, or sink.

 

[TechEdFireman]

When growing up we charged 1/dz. I figured when my girls started laying I would charge 2/dz and I have not had a problem selling eggs at that price. I have some coworkers that give me 3 for their dozen and don't really care since they were buying eggs for that amount at the store and at least they know where the eggs come from with buying from me. I was just approached by a butcher who said he would buy my eggs for 4/dz, he will probably sell them to his clients in NYC or to his customer's here for 5/dz in the Hudson Valley. I didn't get back into raising chickens for the money, I just like alot of people love to interact with the birds and watch them do their thing. But I do have to say the extra money is nothing to complain about.

 

[WalkingWolf]

She may want to think about setting aside a section for emus. There is a farm on the coast here and they get $250 for a emu chick. Eggs go for $20 for a single egg. I have not eaten emu yet but I hear it is very good. I had a opportunity to get some eggs and my DW threw a fit when she saw how big they get. BTW pretty much cures any predator problem and that was most of the reason I wanted one.

As Yogi would say you gotta be "smarter than the average bear"

 

[halo]

You said on another post:

Actually, I would have made money the first year had a hurricane not wrecked it, and my property. I lost 200 birds, and you cannot imagine the horror of spending hour upon hour upon hour of listening to the shingles being ripped off your roof, and the crashes of unknown stuff ripping apart, and then going out to see the devastation to your flock. Their housing was destroyed, and there were dead and dying bodies littered throughout the acreage.

Your first post on this thread was very misleading.​

 

[Ellie_NY_chick]

Quote:
You have to be careful and really know what you're doing with the big birds though.

Did you know an ostrich can kill a person with one kick?

I know an emu is smaller, but it can still do some damage if it's po'd. I considered getting some bigger birds until I really started reading up on them. I'll just stick with chickens!

All I can say to Rachel is I wish you luck. Like a few people have said already, prices fluctuate by the region of the country, and some of us are bound by that. This is the nature of "the market". I give away excess eggs to coworkers and friends because we can't eat them all and we're not in it for the money. Our chickens are all as much our pets as our dogs and cat are.