My Rhode Island Reds are laying beautiful brown eggs! How can I sell them? My chickens scratch outside...so there are no chemicals. It is too expensive to advertise in the paper. I live a major highway and I've had a few sales from this, but I've got 25 dozen in the fridge right now. Help! Most places won't take them because they are not USDA.

-- carla (herbs@computer-concepts.com), February 13, 2002

Answers

Carla, Check with the local extention agent about what you want to do. Also if there are any health food store in the area they might have some suggestions or be able to buy them from you since you have so many you could really cut them a deal as well as cover your any cost you have with them. Linda

-- Linda (jlsam@ccrtc.com), February 13, 2002.

Carla, our feed stores here in town buy my excess eggs, you might try them. Just a thought? Wish you were closer to me, I'd love your eggs! Is is allowable to put up a sign on the highway there? How about any of the free "hand out" papers? We have several of those here. Post notices on all the bulletin boards around also and a few on phone poles. Hit a few garage sales and put flyers there? What a shame that more aren't aware of your eggs. Good Luck, LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 13, 2002.

I work at a University and put up a sign near a time clock advertising my eggs. I have brown, white, and green eggs. Once customers are hooked they love "real" eggs. Do you have anyone around you that could put up a sign at their time clock? Or a Swap paper that advertises for free or nearly? Remember, commercial eggs can be up to 365 days old and still be sold for FRESH. Horrible. Anyway, check with the feed store and put up a flyer there (no pun intended, but it is slightly amusing). Or check with doctor's offices or other. You might poke around with flyers at your closest town/city and post them with sympathetic shopkeepers. You will get some very EGGxacting customers that aren't CHICKEN to try real eggs. No YOLK about that one... What's the difference between a chicken with one wing and a chicken with two? It's a matter of Ah Pinion... a pinion? opinion? sheesh, I know. Pretty awful...

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Gailann, Now I'm really confused I always thought that you had to use eggs by the date on the end of the box 365days old WOW tell me more. Sally

-- (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

In an attempt to disspell that great American myth of supermarket egg freshness:

Supermarket eggs are placed on the shelves for consumer purchase within days (actually as soon as possible) after being laid. The supermarket knows almost instantaneously how their egg sales run. For example, how many small, medium, large, extra large, jumbo and whites of each they sell when. They are familiar with day trends, such as more eggs being sold on Mondays and Fridays. Based on past experience they can predict how many additional eggs they will need when eggs are to be used as loss leaders.

Their computerized ordering program then tells the wholesales they purchase from (company or independent) how many of what type they want delivered when.

The wholesaler in turns buys accordingly from his suppliers (individual eggs farms or cooperatives).

(Some large supermarket chains may own the entire process from hatching, to egg production, to distribution to selling spent birds.)

Eggs are perishable and are thus expensive to store as they require refrigerated storage. Thus, the maximum profit to be made for all parties is to pass the eggs on as quickly as possible from the egg farm to the consumer. The egg farm doesn't want to hold extra eggs. The wholesaler doesn't want to hold extra eggs. The supermarkets don't want to hold extra eggs. It would make absolutely no business sense to store eggs any longer than absolutely necessary. In addition, eggs past the expiration date on their carton are disposed of by supermarkets (well, at least mine does) since it would be too expensive to have the collected and sold for another use. The supermarkets eat this loss, so try to avoid it.

Of course, they will be some freshness difference depending on where the retailer is. If it is 50 miles off the nearest paved road, or eggs have to be flown in, expect them to have more age than the typical high volume suburban supermarket.

There simply isn't any way the eggs you purchase have been around for nine months to a year such as some people try to claim.

That said, I ripped this off from my book:

FARM-FRESH EGGS:

If you live on a busy road leading into an urban area, check out the feasibility of selling organically-produced, farm-fresh eggs from hens allowed to forage for much of their own food. If you have never tasted eggs from free-ranging chickens, I can only describe their difference from cage-confined ones as similar to the difference between sun-ripened tomatoes fresh from the garden and those you get from supermarkets (which are picked green and artificially ripened).

One of my sisters and her husband lived for a while on the farm of his parents in Missouri. She said their eggs tasted funny to her at first. I asked if it was because they had a taste to them, compared to the supermarket ones. She acknowledged they did.

Options include selling out of a refrigerator on an honor system basis, home delivery, wholesaling to local small groceries and sales to restaurants. These eggs normally sell at a slight premium compared to the regular supermarket price due to their organic nature and significantly better taste. If selling to a local small grocery, furnish them with a metal egg basket and suggest they sell eggs, customer choice, out of the basket rather than by a prepackaged dozen. I suspect they will sell far more.

For information on marketing eggs produced from hens which free-range in pastures see Pastured Poultry Profit by Joel Salatin, available from Poly-face Farm, Route 1, Box 281, Swoope, VA 24479 (800-311- 2263).

Although Joel started out selling eggs directly to consumers for normal supermarket prices, he is transitioning to selling them to several restaurants and health food stores at more than double normal wholesale costs from an egg factory. The restaurants recoup their higher cost by a table card which advises breakfast patrons for an additional $.25 per egg they will provide farm-fresh eggs (resulting in about $2.50 per dozen over the egg price already built into the menu). I have seen farm-fresh eggs priced up to $6 per dozen at health food stores.

(If someone in the family works in a city with several health food stores, perhaps they can act as a farm-fresh egg broker, obtaining them locally and then delivering them as needed during the week.) I think the table card concept, with you providing it, is a terrific idea!!! On one trip I stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House restaurant, which included two medium-size, tasteless eggs. I would have gladly paid $.50 extra, only about ten percent of the total bill, for two large- to jumbo-size, farm-fresh eggs.

I suspect there may also be a ready market for farm-fresh eggs at upscale restaurants, which are used to paying premium prices for quality. Bring by say two dozen eggs and ask the chef to prepare a simple omelet two ways, one with your eggs and one with eggs from his normal supplier. If they can taste a significant difference you may have found a sales outlet providing your supply is consistent.

An option may be to pickle boiled eggs and sell them to taverns. Across the bar they are usually $.99 each, or about $12 per dozen. Even selling at $.50 each, that is $6 per dozen and the pickling incredients don’t cost much. You may be able to buy large jars at restaurants. In my local supermarket a 16 ounce jar of pickeled eggs (about a dozen medium eggs) is $5.20.

As a novelty consideration, natural eggs come in colors other than white and brown. The Araucan breed lays eggs in several pastel colors, although most will be olive-drab. Egg production in these breeds is less than regular laying breeds.

A service at Easter may be offering hard boiled, pre-colored or painted eggs to groups (for egg hunts) or individuals. These sell in some supermarkets for $2.50 per dozen. (And you don’t even have to be an egg producer! At $2.50 per dozen, if you buy them at a supermarket, hard boil, color, etc. and deliver them, your gross markup would still be about $1.50 per dozen. Be creative. If someone in the family is a hunter, provide some in camouflage colors. Since the shells are discarded, don’t overlook a non-toxic, spray painted base for further decorating.)

If someone in the family works in an office building, don’t overlook the market for farm-fresh eggs among coworkers. Perhaps sponsor an office Easter egg hunt and games at your place.

Also in Pastured Poultry Profits Joel Salatin tells of taking sixty dozen eggs to a local AARP meeting. One-half were given away as door prizes and the rest sold. This resulted in several new customers for them.

Egg sales need not be restricted to poultry. On one of the TV cooking shows one chef used hard boiled quail eggs in a salad. See the item on Raise Ducks for another possibility.

Some sources of egg cartons are Iowa Packaging, P.O. Box 99, Mason City, IA 50401-0099; Tenneco Packaging, 7670 Airport Drive, Macon, GA 31297; the Stromberg’s catalog (800-720-1134) and the Nasco catalog (800-558-9595). Minimum order for the first three is 250 cartons. Get a price quote from all of them. Also try your local farm supply store to see if they can be special ordered.

Being able to certify your eggs as organic may be a sales plus. See the items on Direct Market Beef for organic certification information.

On a larger scale, according to an article in the Feb-ruary/March 1998 issue of Small Farm Today (800-633-2535), a group of small or part-time farmers in central Michigan formed the Farmers’ Egg Coop- erative to offer “Grazing Fields” eggs. Their average flock size is 200, versus many thousands at commercial egg farms, and their four- color cartons feature chickens in a barnyard to reinforce their free- range nature. They market their eggs to food cooperatives and grocery store chains in seven cities. The cooperative keeps their cost down by having members do the processing. Their members receive about 90 cents a dozen for their eggs, versus about 27 cents a dozen received by nearby commercial egg farms. However, even 90 cents a dozen is significantly less than the $1.50 per dozen someone in the local area charges for farm-fresh eggs!

An organization whose purpose is to promote organically grown foods, including eggs, by matching supply with demand is the Food Animals Concerns Trust (FACT), P.O. Box 14599, Chicago, IL 60614-4599. While the American Pastured Poultry Producers’ Association (5207 70th Street, Chippewa Falls, WI 54729) is primarily focused on the production and sale of pasture-raised broilers, they also cover the sale of farm-fresh eggs. Mentioned in their Fall/Winter 1997 newsletter is the possibility of using the spent hens (after their second year of laying) as a complimentary enterprise to pasture- raised broilers with these sold as stewing hens. Also included in this issue is sample advertising from one place which uses an ‘adopt a chicken’ concept to sell both farm-fresh eggs and composted chicken manure for $70 for forty dozen eggs plus ten gallons of composted manure, $38 for twenty dozen and five gallons or $25 for 13 dozen and one gallon.

For additional information on eggs, go to www.aeb.org (American Egg Board.

(For a source of clean 5-gallon buckets and lids contact companies in your area which service fire extinguishers as the primary chemical they use comes in them.)

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As has been pointed out on the forum, supermarkets can sell eggs at about your cost of production due to their volume buying and selling. Don't try to compete with them on price - compete on quality. Charge accordingly. $1.50 per dozen isn't unreasonable and some routinely charge $2.00 per dozen. If a potential customer says at that price they will buy from the supermarket, smile nicely and take the eggs back from them. You don't want them for a customer. Go after those who appreciate what you are selling and who are willing to pay accordingly. If someone seems genuinely interested, perhaps give them an initial one-half dozen free to try.

If you put up an attractive sign on the road, make sure it says Subject to Availablity as you will likely not be able to produce on a constant basis. Or put up and take down the sign as you have eggs available. Likely most people would be interested on their way home from work in the evenings.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Here is additional information on the freshness of supermarket eggs from www.aeb.org:

CARTON DATES Egg cartons from USDA-inspected plants must display a Julian date-- the date the eggs were packed. Although not required, they may also carry an expiration date beyond which the eggs should not be sold. In USDA-inspected plants, this date cannot exceed 30 days after the pack date. It may be less through choice of the packer or quantity purchaser such as your local supermarket chain. Plants not under USDA inspection are governed by laws of their states.

JULIAN DATES Starting with January 1 as number 1 and ending with December 31 as 365, these numbers represent the consecutive days of the year. This numbering system is sometimes used on egg cartons to denote the day the eggs are packed. Fresh shell eggs can be stored in their cartons in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 weeks beyond this date with insignificant quality loss.

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I'm looking at the side of an egg carton from my frig. It has stamped on it P1979 025 SELL BY FEB23. What this tells me is P1979 is most likely the egg farm and 025 means the eggs were packed on January 25th. The sell by date is no more than 30 days from the packaged date.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Carla,

I have simply put a sign out by the road in front of the house that says 'Farm Fresh Eggs'. I've always sold all I had. Be sure to charge enough to make it worth your while. I agree with Ken, I'd price them at a minimum of $1.50 a dozen. Good luck selling them.

-- Murray in ME (lkdmfarm@megalink.net), February 13, 2002.

There was an expose on television about a year or so ago that showed the egg packagers REpackaging eggs with a later "sell by" date! And yes, of course I believe everything I see on television. *vbg*

-- Anne Keckler (raymondkeckler@yahoo.com), February 13, 2002.

Sorry, I thought my information was reputable. Evidently it was not. Someone told me this probably from misunderstanding the Julian date on the side of the egg carton. I see Julian dates all the time and know how to read them. Sorry I gave wrong information! The Egg Board guy told me that as long as I gathered the eggs daily I wouldn't have any problem. AND wash them, if needed in warmer than the egg water. That way the egg will not absorb the dirt/water. Good luck with your egg selling!!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), February 13, 2002.

Carla,

My mom sells hers directly too a chinese restaurant in a nearby city. Oriental food stores will sometimes accpet them (brown eggs) and duck eggs with no regrets. The one here in town sells 'em both like hotcakes.

Perhaps you should go by with one dozen eggs, show them what you have, and tell them what you can supply them with. My ma gets a little less from the chinese restaurant, but they take every single egg she has every week.

Marty

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@excite.com), February 13, 2002.

The sort of fraud that repackaging and selling old eggs represents can happen in any industry when someone unscrupulous thinks they can get away with it. The egg industry discourages it because it makes the industry as a whole look bad when consumers get poor quality eggs. The grocery industry for sure isn't going to admit to doing something like that, no more than they would admit to repackaging meat or adulterating ground beef with non-beef products. Nevertheless, in some places and at certain times it happens.

Old eggs are fairly easy to detect when you see them. Do the yolks stand up firm and proud or do they sort of spread and lie low? Are the whites runny and watery or do they stay more or less together?

By and large the eggs you get from your grocer are going to be fresh because it's in the best interest of the grower, broker and grocer to get you the freshest possible eggs so you'll be satisfied with them and want to buy more. It's the occasional unscrupulous individual or company that tries to pass off old stock. In terms of real freshness you'd be hard put to compete against the egg factories since their eggs are often washed, packed and delivered the day they were laid. Fortunately, as long as keeping layers on grass cannot be done mechanically we homesteaders can beat them every time on the most important quality and that is *flavor*. A grass raised egg will beat a confinement egg every time. Emphasize that in your marketing.

........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), February 13, 2002.

Our natural food stores put them in the cooler with a plastic container to stick your money in for the family. This way they aren't selling it to you....you are choosing to take the risk and are buying it directly from the eggperson.

-- marcee (thathope@mwt.net), February 13, 2002.

What key words are the real sellers? Grass raised...brown....chemical free? I can't use the word organic can I? Don't you have to be certified or something??

-- carla (herbs@computer-concepts.com), February 13, 2002.

Cara:

You could probably use words like "Free-range" or "Raised Under Organic-Like Conditions." I personally like "Farm-Fresh".

I've seen several places which sell eggs out of a refrigerator on the porch on the honor system.

For a sign, contact a real estate company and see if they will sell you one of those push-in-the-ground for sale signs. Then have it repainted to read something like, "Farm-fresh Eggs" with an arrow pointing to your driveway. When you have extra eggs, put it out by the road. When you don't, bring it up to the house. If you can build up a regular customer base, they will watch for the sign. Once you have them coming for eggs, what else can you sell them?

For blank egg cartons, you can have an adhesive sticker printed up with your farm name, packaged date and best if used by date (30-days from packaging).

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 14, 2002.

Theere was a special on one of the news shows where they tracked eggs in storage and sometimes unrefrigerated.....iccckkkkyyyy!

It really depends on where you are. I had hoped I could sell mine last year... Hah! my only buyers were a few of the older folks who knew what a real egg was supposed to taste like, but they only needed a dozen every couple weeks at best. Otherwise I couldn't hardly give them away! One neighbor was grossed out by that icky looking brown egg! Everybody else figured it was to much trouble when it was easier to get for 89 cents wjhen they were already at the store!

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), February 14, 2002.

Novina, it sounds like you really need to educate your neighbors. Asking for referrals from existing customers might help some, too.

-- Anne Keckler (raymondkeckler@yahoo.com), February 14, 2002.

The key words that I would use are:

Local grass raised farm fresh brown eggs.

Use of the word "organic" has gotten to be such a hassle I wouldn't even bother anymore. Grass raised means just that,they're on green grass or at least are eating as much fresh greens as they want.

........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), February 14, 2002.

Carla, how about some bakers in your area? I know a gal in town who makes pies and cakes under the table, and they are sold at several of the resturants around town. You can also purchase them for special occasions. She buys my friends eggs. Also if you have a rooster, don't forget the fertile egg approach! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 14, 2002.

where do you live I'd love some

-- indiana jack (injack1@aol.com), February 15, 2002.

Carla,

We have several local producers of fresh brown, white, and double yoked eggs from range hens. They have no trouble at all selling all that they can produce.

They go to the local school and try to sell to a few of the teachers. The word will get out quickly, for quality eggs.

They also have an outlet at the local produce market.

Good luck.

DocMac in Ok

-- DocMac (mccartney-ct@chouteautel.com), February 16, 2002.