Those who sell eggs

[garnet]

How much do you charge? Do you worry about salmonella? What do you tell folks who ask? How do you market your product? Do you reuse commercial egg containers or buy generic ones in bulk? And do you sell colored eggs or white? (brown or the different color?)

 

[cluckychick]

I put a "fresh eggs for sale sign" at the end of my drive. I don't use it anymore as I have a steady clientele. I reuse egg cartons. I sell for $2.00 w/o cartons and then if they bring them back to be filled they get a .50 discount

My eggs are all colors but blue/green

 

[92caddy]

Price varies depending on the breed, how rare it is and so on for hatching eggs, for eating eggs, they are 1.50 a doz.

No worries about salmonella.

Never had anyone ask about it.

I advertise thru BYC for selling hatching eggs. For eating eggs, I have sign in the drive way.

I reuse used egg cartons for selling eating eggs. For shipping eggs, I reuse bubble wrap I get from work and will reuse boxes if I have or I get new ones from PO.

I sell all colors of eggs...................

 

[gumpsgirl]

It really all depends on the area that you live in as to how much you can charge. I get $2.50 a dozen here whereas others can fetch as much as $4 a dozen where they live.

I advertise my eggs to be farm fresh, vegetarian fed (because I use the Purina Layena which is vegetarian and don't feed meats), free range because they are free range chickens. I don't address salmonella, because I never have had to.

I use egg cartons that I purchase from the feed store, so it separates my eggs from the ones I buy from the store. I pay 25 cents a carton and pass that along to my customers. If they return my carton to me in good condition the next time to refill, then they get 25 cents off their next dozen.

As for the color of eggs... I sell what I have, which are mostly brown, but I do have one white egg layer so each dozen usually gets one white egg added.

Hope that helps give you some idea as to what direction to go in.

 

[colby318]

I sell eggs by word of mouth to coworkers for $2/doz. I tell them I hand rinse the dirty ones. So... it's their perogative if they want to wash them before they use them. My postal carrier is a great customer, too! Most of my coworkers grew up on farms and now don't have access to eggs besides the grocery. (We work at the Toyota Camry factory) Everyone's pretty savvy about salmonella, etc.

Next year I should have enough laying hens to have a booth at the local farmer's market. At that point I guess I'll have to invest in an egg cleaner. But I'm going to put a waiver on the inside of the lid of my cartons about refrigeration, germs, etc.

I bought the bulk unprinted cartons. Clear plastic 4x3 square. Everyone likes the square shape versus the 2x6 long ones. I guess since they're a little different shaped!

I bought labels and clip art software from Office Max. The labels that come 6 to a sheet are perfect for the square cartons. The're 3 1/3"x4".

I just have EE eggs right now but my 50 GLW should start kicking in about June

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I sell eggs word of mouth, sign at the end of the driveway, and (next summer) at farmer's markets. I get $3.50/dozen, with .25 off if you return a carton.

We wash in unscented detergent with a dilute bleach rinse. ALWAYS use hot water to wash. Water colder than the egg will force bacteria into the eggs through the pores. Hotter water will draw bacteria out.

I live in Ohio. If you just sell from your premises (never deliver) there aren't many rules. If you deliver, as I do, or sell off the property, there are labeling laws and you would have to completely obscure any markings on re-used egg cartons. It's way easier to buy our own, put a sticker on, and then pay that .25 bounty on the returned cartons. Our customers like the re-use factor, too.

I sell a mix of colors, and work a bit to keep the cartons pretty. We try to get at least two blue and/or green eggs per carton, plus cream and various shades of brown. I've been known to do whole cartons of blue and green around Easter, but for those I charge $5!

The big point here is that if you plan to deliver eggs or sell off the property, there will be laws from your Department of Agriculture and possibly the Health Department.

Erika

 

[My Little Sister's Farm]

I know this is old but I wanted to touch on the salmonella issue. Only 1 in 20,000 eggs has enough Salmonella in it to sicken an immuno compromised person. This means if you are very young, very old, sick, recovering from surgery, or have a disease like TB or AIDS, you are at risk IF and only IF you eat the eggs raw. Chickens are called shedders that infect eggs without showing signs of illness themselves. So you won't even know if your eggs are contaminated just by looking at the thriftiness of your hens.

To sum up: if you eat raw eggs and are sick, you have a 1 in 20,000 chance that this egg will make you sick.

That isn't even saying you'll die, you will have flu like symptoms maybe.

(I am not a doctor and this isn't the gospel, but hopefully it gives you some good information to share with your customers.)

 

[turducken]

We sell to co-workers $2.50 for a dozen chicken eggs and $4.50 for a dozen duck eggs.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I hand mine over to a person "in town", about 5-7 dozen at a time.

They sell them for whatever and we get a buck for a dozen.

They bring back the egg cartons and supply us. They do the running and we just go into town once a week.

Works out OK.

ETA: We throw out the "pullet" eggs and keep the dirty ones for ourselves and our neighbors.

We wash them by hand in warm water and diluted bleach.