re: Please Don't Undercharge for Your eggs!

[damselfish]

To the OP, first of all, good luck. It's true that we on here are not your competition. If you're trying to compete with hobby farmers who sell a few dozen a month, you're focusing on the wrong clientele.

If you have to get $4 per dozen to make a profit,
1) find the ones who are willing and able to pay for the quality, as others have suggested.
2) work on dropping your costs, saw some good ideas on this too.
3) change your business model to sell a value-added product, hatching eggs were suggested.

Consider getting another job to support your small business, as many small business owners do in the beginning.

Well, this is turning out to be a summary of what others already said, but the basic point is...you've got a business problem. You can't fix what other farmers do, you have to fix your business.

I'm not offended by your post. Specific prices are regional and giving away eggs is a personal decision.

You sound like a good person and I hope you can get your business running right. Hang in there.

 

[Dill]

From the BYC Rules :

4. No Trolling (posting to provoke others, luring them to flame or rant). Trolling is sometimes done involuntary, so please be considerate when posting.​

 

[Buster]

Quote:
Dill, it's called LIVESTOCK. People get pets because they are pets. People get livestock as a business venture. It's a world of difference. I don't keep an animal here that doesn't have a purpose or a job. The chickens have started paying for themselves. I have a good idea of what I need to make off of them a week to cover them and I try very hard to meet or exceed that goal. I raised a pig last year to help feed my family. It's whole existence was based around putting it in my freezer. My dog works cows for me, even the cat catches mice- if I ever see a mouse in my house the cat has to go. I refuse to feed animals that don't pull their weight in some way.

 

[Katy]

I don't think there are many of us who expect our chickens to "pay their keep" necessarily. I like my chickens a lot, but they are not on the same level as my cats and dogs as pets. They are a farm animal as are our cattle.

I'd love to sell my excess eggs for $3.50 to help with the feed bill but I know that's not going to happen around here. I'll keep giving them free to family..selling them for $1.50 to those willing to pay that, and feeding the excess back to the hens.

 

[Dill]

From the BYC Rules :

4. No Trolling (posting to provoke others, luring them to flame or rant). Trolling is sometimes done involuntary, so please be considerate when posting.​

 

[Buster]

It's called self-sufficiency Dill. Not everyone is focused on consumerism.

 

[Steve]

Country people are some of the most honest, hard working, loyal folk in the world.

 

[picklespickles]

buster has a good point. i am not a business with my animals at all. but they do provide for me and i for them. i am very aware of the necessary contributions they make. maybe it is a more rural way of looking at things. my cat actually IS here to catch and eat field mice that like to house themselves in the hay. my big dog keeps strangers out of the yard. my little dogs, even dressed in their cute little dog outfits, let me know immediately if stray dogs are starting to watch the goats grazing in the field too intently. the goats give me babies i can eat, the rooster wakes me up, the ducks and chickens are tasty. i do a have a few whom i would likely keep even if they stopped helping out, but that is me. farming is farming. my grandmother would have had no tolerance for things the way i might. and hey, if a parrot could answer my phone, i would be in HEAVEN. i wonder if a chihuahua in a little pink dress could be trained too........hmm.......

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
I was a substitute teacher years ago and one day at work when looking over the teachers lesson plans for the day I saw where I was suposed to have a open discussion about farming.
When I asked the class "Where do we get the food we eat? Where does it come from?" I was shocked to discover that the little girl I called upon answered "The store." I prodded further to ask her "But where did it come from before it was packaged and shipped to the store for us to buy?" She had no idea!
Too many people take for granted that food just "happens".
The conveniently forget the hard working people who strive daily to grow and supply the worlds food! It's awful!

 

[picklespickles]

and, if it is a vegan thing, hey, i was vegan for ten years before my health made me have to change. still same values, just displayed differently. and i never hated "country" people by the way. lots of veggies have reasonable ways of looking at the world, unfortunately, they don't seem to be the loudest ones. lol.