I've been raising chickens for a hobby. I have 23 hens and 1 rooster (whose days are numbered, actually.) We get at least a dozen eggs a day, and by summer, that number should increase. My husband and I can't eat 7 dozens eggs a week! Up until now I've been just giving the eggs away to neighbors and colleagues. But then I calculated that my hobby cost me about $23 a month in food and wood shavings. So I really want to earn back some money.
So starting Monday I'm going to send notes to my colleagues and post a sign at work. I'm not sure how much I'll charge. No more than $1 a dozen. (Store bought eggs are about 80cents here, I believe.)
I won't make a profit and I don't care. I just want to be able to afford to feed my chickens! I'll let you know how it goes! Just thought I'd share.

When your hens are mature and producing, you should be able to put more money in the egg jar than the hens consume. Remember that stores sell eggs at or below their cost as loss leaders many times. Eggs have gone up dramatically in the last couple of months around here. Both large and jumbos are over $1.15 now, at regular prices, so watch out for cut-rate prices when setting your own. Your eggs are better than anything the stores sell, and are worth more. Don't sell yourself short. The people who have been taking them for free may not become your most loyal egg customers. Good luck.

Okay, this is depressing. I put up a sign at work on the bulliten board announcing that I have fresh eggs for sale. (Cute sign with graphics.) I asked anyone interested to put a note in my mailbox.
NO ONE has responded yet!! It's only been a day or two, but STILL. I put $1.00 a dozen, and 75 cents the next dozen if they return the carton.
There are about 50 people at my work. I just can't believe NO ONE has responded. Sheesh

Sunni, It takes a while to gain regular customers for any product, however superior! You will find that with even 50 people, there will be a number who do not eat eggs because they are afraid of the myth (maybe) of high colestrol in the eggs. Another group will not be breakfast eaters, and not in a family that bakes good things. Of the rest, you might even have to give samples, so that they will find out how good fresh eggs taste. (There are 1/2 dozen cartons, or you can cut a carton in half). My father (depression years) carried market bags with packed eggs to work every day, to deliver to customers at noon in office buildings near his. These were people who had a little money to spend and wanted best eggs! So don't give up, and if you are near another office bldg., maybe on your lunch hour, you can expand your advertising???? Good luck. CJR

Sunni,
We have about 23 laying hens. We get way more than we can eat too.

First you have to get people addicted to the great free-range, homegrown eggs. Try giving away a few dozen first. Maybe say you have 7 doz. eggs free for the first 7 customers.

Second, try posting information on the nutritional benefits of homegrown eggs....omega3 fatty acids, lower cholesteral (supposedly) from low stress lives and healthy food.

Right now I can barely keep up with the people that want our eggs at $2 per doz. They are at least covering their feed costs but if we factor in the 200 watt bulb that has been on for the past couple months for warmth it cancels out most of the money from the eggs.

I sell about 8 doz eggs/week. We eat the banty eggs. Some of our Auracana and Red Star eggs are so big the carton hardly closes on them!

I just want to ask something. You all keep saying how fresh eggs taste better. I think the fresh eggs are harder to cook (the yolk makes it hard to cook the white right next to the egg) and I don't notice a difference in taste. I sell my eggs around a dollar. They are a mix of bantam eggs, normal eggs, and realy large eggs that are dark brown. All lage eggs are brown and most small eggs are white. I sell some mix of the eggs. I wouldn't sell them for much more than store prices because I can't see the extra value in the eggs other than you know where they come from and the layers are humanely treated (at least i hope so).

YoYo

I strayed off topic in the above message. Anyway, what makes fresh eggs better.

YoYo

Fresh eggs aren't runny. They stay in one place when you crack them onto the skillet.

IMO, and the O of the people who buy my eggs, they are richer in flavor and texture, and they are no more than a week old. Sometimes they are even minutes old when we've had to run out to the coop to find enough eggs to make up a dozen.

I make a pound cake using my eggs to donate to a church bazar The cake was so yellow, I had to keep telling people that it was not a lemon cake.

Just wish I had enough room to have two batches of chickens at once. One group for laying, the other group reaching maturity to replace the first group. That way I wouldn't ever be without fresh eggs of my own.

No, I don't mean they are runny. The white is so firm I can't cook the egg right. I like my eggs well done with lots of salt and pepper. Is the salt and pepper the reason I don't notice a difference. Also does age make a difference. I have 14 hens 5 over a year old. Most of the young ones aren't laying. My hens are pets and they don't have to lay for me, their laying eggs is just a benifit of keeping them. I have another question. I have three roosters (17 chickens total), and only one of them will crow to my neighbors chickens, not any praticular one, just one at a time. Does anyone know why?

YoYo

how about less chemicals from the back yard chicken eggs? I understand that if they turn the lights off in the commercial chicken factories all the birds glow.

YoYo, Try putting a lid over the egg as you are frying it. It is called basting and it will cook the top of the white by the yolk while the rest of the egg is cooking.

I have 22 hens with three roosters to keep them happy. I was getting between 15 - 20 eggs per day until last week. The production has dropped to 4 -7 eggs per day. No conditions have been changed. The birds have pleanty of fresh water and food (20% layer mash) and there is the righht amount of light. The birds will be one year old in May.
Any suggestions?

Has the weather changed in your area? What kind of ventilation do you have in your coop? Are there any other symptoms at all? Any changes in their routine at all? If you have them on light, could the bulb be burned out without you knowing? There must be something to change production this drastically.

Have you checked for parasites?

The coop is well ventilated, and all the light bulbs are working. The birds seem to be eating well. I decided to clean out the area again on Saturday to eliminate this as a possible problem,.
If they were infested with parasites, how would this manifest itself?

Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook says :
"Most external parasites produce similar results: weight loss or slow growth and reduced egg production. Serious infestations may cause death. Some parasites carry diseases."
"Suspect lice if your chickens are restless and constantly scratch and pick themselves. Look for moving lice on feathers and skin, and for white or grayish egg clusters at the base of feathers. If you see lice on one bird, chances are good the whole flock has them, or soon will."

I just started with 18 Austalorp chicks,(we lost 1, very week from pick up! so we are at 17) is there any usda standard for selling "homegrown" eggs? And has anyone had success with this breed laying? They are now 1 week and 1 day old- lots of fun!

Australorps should be great layers. We had them as the brown egg layers in our flocks for several years. They are gentle and friendly. So far as I know, there are no standards for selling backyard flock eggs, and don't ask the USDA, or they might come up with some! In some states the cartons from the stores are not supposed to be re-used, but I don't think this poses a big problem, either. You might quietly ask at the local extension office.
If you develop a quality private clientele, you can work to provide eggs the way they like them and package them in a way that is mutually acceptable. Good luck.

Thank you for the info, I was a little concerned about laying and when they might start. A neighbor has some and said hers didnt start until almost xmas! We just gave them a little more space by adding another box, they are getting so big already! Thanks again!

My question is IRT how long the "Laying" season lasts.
We have 18 Rhodies. I got them as chicks in March of last year. They started laying in June. I was warned about the drastic decrease in laying during the winter but it's JULY and they don't seem to have come out of their funk. Same time last year I was getting 15 /day. Now I'm getting 4 or 5. I had heard that hens lay for 3-4 years but we've just completed our first year.
ANy clues on why? Could it be the feed?
And what do you do with hens that stop laying besides give them away. (I already have 6 fryers in the freezer):)
Thanx,
Lorie

Lorie, Yes, hens lay for 3-4 years and more, but not like the first year. They likely will pick up nicely again when it gets cooler--cold isn't as hard on them as hot! Keep feeding them well, they will lay better soon. Have they gone through a moult? Usually they will lay well again when their new plumage is in.CJR

Generally speaking, dual purpose layers will begin to lay at 4-5 months and lay until they are about 15 months old, then moult for about three months. At that point they will begin laying again for about 9 more months. This completes what we generally call the first and second halves of the laying cycle. They will lay again after the second moult, but never as well as they did during their first two+ years. Many people put their "spent" layers in the freezer as stewing hens at the end of the second half of the laying cycle. Commercial egg farms generally sell them to soup companies at the end of the first half of the laying cycle.
Make sure your hens have good 16% layer mash, very little extra grain, and free choice oyster shell to rebuild the calcium in their bodies. Good luck!

What are the signs of moulting?
How long does it last?

I have 25 hens and 1 rooster. Have been doing well with egg business, but winter is approaching and egg production is down. I put a light in coop to extend day light. Will this cause hens to pick up production or will I have to wait till spring? If not going to lay eggs for winter, how do I know which hens aren't laying so I can have them butchered. Thanks Ruby