[knightquest]

So sorry, it's £1.40 for 6! SORRY!!! 

So £2.80 for a dozen. Owwwww, dreadfully embarassed! 

No need to apologise or be embarassed Eve. Just a typo  and it gave us something to discuss 

I sell my eggs for a pound for six. Personally, I believe that to be about right and the price is also about perceived value and 70p for six is way too little for the effort put in from the owner AND the chickens

Ian

[Roxy]

Are your hens free range?  Can people see the hens?  How do you advertise eg - sign at the gate or what?  What size are your eggs?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to see if there is any particular reason your sales have dwindled.

I have noticed free range eggs in the supermarket are quite cheap at the moment - special offers on packs of 15.  Perhaps people are just buying these bargain eggs at the moment?

I leave my eggs by the gate - £2 a dozen.  Mixed sizes, but most are large.  I have probably 60 laying hens, and 20 banties and silkies  (bantam eggs sell for £1 dozen).  My hens can be seen from the lane, obvious they are free range.  I could probably sell double the amount of eggs.  I have lots of regular people who come every week.  They know we do not have eggs in winter, and once my sign went out last week, every box has sold.

There are 3 other people close by selling free range eggs too .....one sells his for £1.50, but there seems trade for us all.

I would consider dropping your eggs to £1 for 6, to see if that makes a difference......it may do.

[andy harris]

Right here is the full pic.....we live in a small grove in the middle of a small town we have a notice outside saying we sell eggs.most of the eggs are very big but we bought 4 blackrocks last year and the are just comming in lay now.They can be seen in the garden if not then people can hear them.We are paying £7 for a 25kilo sack of pellet & mash when i go to get the food i always buy 2 of each (£28) and that lasts about a month .If we can cover the food bill each month then iam happy with that .

[Castle Farm]

I charge £2.50 a dozen and have no problem selling them.

In our local co-op they sell for £2.97 for 12 and they are the 'free-range' sort.

Anybody selling eggs need to think how much work for both hen and keeper goes into producing 12 eggs.

I can't really afford to subsidise other people's breakfast by selling eggs cheaper than I do. If people want cheap eggs let them buy the foreign imports or come around and help me clean chicken s**t out of the runs.

[northfifeduckling]

all my friends were happy with the increase in price to £1.20 for 6 - I just explained that the feed prices had gone up by a lot (%20). Keep it personal if you are not a business, mums at your kids' school, workmates, are usually really happy to buy a quality product from happy animals! Say that the price is only to help with the feed costs and that you don't pay yourself for your work...last year someone actually thought £ 1 was expensive - these are the people who think if you keep hens they feed themselves by running around in your garden 

[princesspiggy]

at what point do u need to follow any regulations when u start to sell eggs. we were thinking of selling at gate and to friends. do u need to vaccinate for salmonella or anything like that? could you offer them to the local shop or would you need to be regulated for that?
also how much land do the hens have to have to be called free-range? as mine have to be fenced in cos of foxes. 

[NorthEssexsmallholding]

at what point do u need to follow any regulations when u start to sell eggs. we were thinking of selling at gate and to friends. do u need to vaccinate for salmonella or anything like that? could you offer them to the local shop or would you need to be regulated for that?
also how much land do the hens have to have to be called free-range? as mine have to be fenced in cos of foxes. 

have a look on defra's site, as far as I'm aware you can sell as many as you like from farm gate, over 50 chickens and you need to register,(you can register anyway.  IF you sell to shops, or food outlets, then you need to register as a producer and packer and grade the eggs. check the DEFRA site, they are always changing rules and regulations, the Soil Association also has a good poultry section.

[cooper956]

do rember you can only sell from your door unless registered you carnt go round selling them! they have to come to you we have campers in the summer that buy most of ours at £2.60doz but untill the site is open we are selling for £2 doz as they have all started laying and we have to sell them or eat them and we have far too many to eat thinking of doing it proply and stamping the eggs ect so we can sell other than from the door. so not a good idea selling at schools ect! sell to other mums and that just they have to come collect from the house door! otherwise why should others bother doing it by the law!

[northfifeduckling]

and another law 

[plumseverywhere]

luckily I don't go round selling at school - they order and pay me at my house  that's the selling part dealt with

[Crofter]

I suppose it is a case of market forces, much as I hate the term.  We pay about £7 for a 20Kg bag of feed and we currently get £3-20 a dozen for our eggs.

Dave

[doganjo]

You've got it made, Dave.   I pay £8.75 for a 20kg bag of food and only get £2 a dozen!

[patchy1990]

We charge £1.80 a dozen, we live down in the south, near bath. But we have a lot of poultry so therefore maybe we are able to sell cheaper..
As for food, we feed corn and pellets, but also are given lots and lots of unsold bread from the local bakery, so this accounts for a lot aswell..

[ambriel]

I charge £1.40 for half a dozen, which ties in with the low-end of the supermarket free range price.

Don't under-value your product - they're going to be top quality compared with the pale and pasty looking things the supermarkets trot out.

Larger producers can cut their over-heads by buying feed in bulk, rather than 20kg bags.

There's also the 'happy hens' factor to take into account. Our buyers can see our hens, and in some cases I can tell them which hen laid a particular egg. They seem to like it.

One of our local hotels has recently started taking our eggs. They're keen to use local produce and like the idea that they can point out the window and show their guests where the food they're eating was produced.

[Anke]

If you are only wanting to cover your feedcosts, how are you ever going to buy/raise replacement hens?!

We are charging 1.80 for six, for sale to colleagues in Edinburgh and also to our neighbours. That does cover our ongoing costs and also raising some replacements. Why would I charge less than supermarket prices when I have a far superior product? Any egg sold in the supermarket - organic, freerange or otherwise - is at least over a week old. I will never sell eggs over two days old! (I just have a cake/icecream/omelette making frenzy instead!)

And I don't give a discount for multiple boxes either, and only one person has ever asked me for it, and she doesn't buy very often anymore.... (sorry BOGOF's are pet hate of mine!)