What do people expect when they buy fresh eggs?

[tackyrama]

So far I give my eggs to friends or let them buy me a cup of coffee as payment. Next summer I will have many more hens laying so will offer them for sale at 3 dollars a dozen for free range eggs. Most people are happy to pay more for free range eggs.

I do not clean my eggs. I explain that eggs are better left uncleaned even if they sometimes don't look so good. Cleaning eggs can force impurities and germs right through the porous shell. I recommend cleaning right before use. Hatching eggs should not be cleaned period.

My coop is very dry and clean with clean straw in the nests. The chickens keep cleaner free ranging so the eggs are generally very clean to start with.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeee]

3 bucks a dozen.
DW cleans em good enough that there aint no poo on em.
She has a little sign she hangs out by the mailbox.
Sign aint out - dont stop unless you just want to chat.

 

[ChickensInTheNorthWoods]

I clean any dirty ones I have with a stiff brush or a green kitchen scrubby - I get $2.50 a dozen plus all the eggs my family desires to eat. The best part is we make enough $ from selling the eggs to friends and family to cover the cost of the chickens (feed, bedding, scratch-treats, oyster shells etc..) I gather my eggs twice a day once in the morning and once again before bed.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I use water only, and just a few degrees warmer than the egg.
I have a scrubber "plastic mesh" that is for eggs only.
I just rinse the clean eggs and gently rub any dirt or poo off the dirty ones.
I don't soak my eggs. I just rinse them off.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I even wash the ones we set, and get a 85 - 98 % hatch rate. Since I don't candle at all, my hatch rate calculation includes all the eggs I put in the incubator. Even eggs I purchase elsewhere.
I know a lot of people don't count clear eggs in their calculations of hatch.

Jean

 

[cmom]

Quote:
The laws are similar in Florida and the prices are pretty much the same here too. I do was the eggs with an approved egg wash for the retail markets I sell my eggs to. I don't wash the eggs I sell at the farm. No poopy eggs.

 

[bheila]

I sell our eggs for $3 a dozen. In Wa it's only legal to sell eggs from your residence unless you are licensed to sell at farmers market and such. I usually wipe the eggs clean with a damp washcloth if they are dirty. I do have some customers who request that I keep the eggs "natural" and don't clean them. I also state in my ad if they don't want them washed then they need to tell me. I will give a discounted price if they buy 7 dozen or more. My customers like that they get brown, blue/green and white eggs. They also like that my hens are free ranged.

I did have a customer who had a blood spot in an egg and she stopped buying from me for a while, she thought it was a chick. I had to explain to her that it was just a broken blood vessel....etc.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I don't sell a lot (3-4 doz per week) - we only have 13 hens, but I am selling enough eggs to totally pay for their feed and also keep about 3 dozen per week for my own family.

I don't wash my eggs - I've heard the eggs stay fresher longer if you leave the bloom on. My nestboxes are clean and I rarely see a spot on the eggs - if I do, I just take a damp paper towel and wipe it off. I've only had one person ask if I washed my eggs (during the initial phone call) and this person preferred the eggs unwashed. I have had a few feathers stuck to the eggs and those are removed. The eggs always look very clean.

I've never candled them.

Where I live, people pay $3 a dozen ($4.50-$5 at the farmer's market), but feed is also expensive here. Purina Layena is $16-$17 before tax for a 50 lb bag.

Also; I remove the very smallest eggs, the occasional strange looking, odd shaped one, & the huge double yolkers so that each dozen looks nice and they get mostly large eggs. We eat the ugly eggs ourselves

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Definately wash them with warm water they look nicer and last just as long.

It's all about apperance... you will get more happy customers with clean eggs than dirty eggs reguardless of what you tell them. For incubation purposes, don't wash them at all, only knock the big stuff off.

We get $3.50 / dozen here and probably could get $4.00 / dozen but I didn't want to push it as we just moved. I sell out weekly between two farmers markets and our farm.

We sell through 120 dozen a week so and every egg is spotless... if they have stains, mis shaped, wrinkles, or puny we eat ourselves. I know there isn't anything wrong with them but to the average person it's gross... same goes with dirty eggs.

The giant double yolkers that some of the hens lay I get $5.00 / dozen for them and people gladly pay that. I should charge $10.00 a dozen for those as I don't know how these poor hens squeeze those double and triple yolkers out..... Keep the $5.00 for myself and use the other $5.00 to build them a hen spa for all of their effort.

Good luck... just remember if you have to question it... it probably gross to the average person!

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

The eggs do have a protective bloom on them that helps them to stay fresher and keeps bacteria out. Storebought eggs are washed, but then a protective coating is put back on the eggs.

"When the egg is laid, a protective coating is put on the outside by the hen. At the plant, government regulations require that USDA-graded eggs be carefully washed and sanitized using special detergent. Then the egg is coated with a tasteless, natural mineral oil to protect it."

This quote was taken off the USDA website:
"Why Do Hard-Cooked Eggs Spoil Faster than Fresh Eggs?
When shell eggs are hard cooked, the protective coating is washed away, leaving bare the pores in the shell for bacteria to enter and contaminate it. Hard-cooked eggs should be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking and used within a week."

From the USDA safety rules:
"Don't wash eggs. You'll remove a protective coating applied at the packing plant."


Some more info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/archives/106

If you do decide or need to wash your eggs, make sure you are careful and do it correctly/safely. The following link has good instructions:

http://askville.amazon.com/clean-ch...nths-laying/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=4966151

 

[CalicoFarm]

I hope this isn't off subject but, what size are the eggs you all are selling? My hens have only been laying for a little over a month. I have weighed some of them and they would be considered medium size. I am charging $1.25 a doz. but plan on charging more if they get bigger.