# How much do you sell eggs for?



## promiseacres (May 8, 2014)

Since I got my hens 2 years ago (JUST for eggs for us) I started selling eggs to friends an family at first it was just to pay for feed bills and now I've been breaking even and that's despite the fact I've expanded my flock from 9 hens to 38 chickens only 13 are laying hens the others are young pullets and a few roosters. I currently get $2/dozen but the eggs are med-large and mixed colors. I can't and wont' claim organic because of feed costs. Local grocery store fluctates from about $1.50-2.50 for eggs. I am debating on once the younger chickens start laying to increase to $3/dozen... I know MOST of my customers wouldn't have a problem paying for it. And as a SAHM it just makes me REALLY good to contribute to the income. I have projected that once these younger hens are laying I could potentially sell 10 dozen a week.... which projects to a net (minus feed costs) of roughly $15 per week at $2/dozen. and $25 a week if I increase the costs.  Which isn't much but it does help. We do keep lights on the hens so we do have eggs year around. and are planning some breeding pens but DH wants me to focus on the layers b/c at this point I have more egg requests than I can meet and so far it's just word of mouth. So just curius if you sell eggs from your backyard flock what you charge. (Also right now my customers bring back cartons and I've never had to pay for them, in fact am stock piled with them) so that's not cost at this time.


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## M.L. McKnight (May 8, 2014)

I toss a minimal amount of grain to my birds in the morning and they spend the day eating grasses, leaves and bugs. The cartons I use cost me $0.37 each. I put a label on the cartons which I print myself and each one costs me $0.07. I sell my first carton for $2.50 and then sell eggs for $2/dz as long as they re-use the same carton. I know I can sell my eggs for more but I have my chickens because I like them, the fact that I make a little change per dozen is a plus. Similar eggs to mine sell for $4-$5/dz at the local farmers markets.


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## BrownSheep (May 8, 2014)

Really depends on your market. If you plan on just having a base that comes to you or you to them 2.5-3 sounds about right. If you are going to a market or similar area 3.5-4.5 is what I would charge.


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## Baymule (May 8, 2014)

I get $3 per dozen and people save egg cartons for me. When some one gives me a stack of cartons, I usually gift them with a dozen eggs. We eat a lot and I give them to my kids.


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## frustratedearthmother (May 8, 2014)

I sell mine for $2.00 a dozen, but I sell to friends.  I would probably gift most of them, but they insist on paying me, lol.  Can't really turn it down now can I?  But, I didn't know how much work it was going to turn into though.  I wash and inspect every single egg, I make sure every carton has a nice mix of brown, white and green eggs and even though I don't size them - I always put in a mix of large and medium eggs in each carton.  It would be even MORE trouble to size 'em...    And, if feed keeps going up -I'm gonna raise my price!


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## Hangtown Farms (May 8, 2014)

I get 3.00 a dozen but prefer not to sell eggs to eat as I much rather sell them for 35.00 a dozen plus shipping to someone that wants to hatch them lol


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## schmije (May 9, 2014)

I sell mine for $3 a dozen.  Only a couple of people have ever complained about the price.  My attitude is that I'll sell to the people who are willing to pay my price.  If you aren't willing to pay $3, you can buy your eggs somewhere else.  I have no shortage of customers.

We had 18 layers early last year, and we couldn't keep up with the demand of our customers.  Last year we raised enough to put us at 36 layers, which gives us 2 dozen or more each day.  I put a sign in the yard when we have extras, but our regular customers keep the sign down more than it's up.  I'm considering expanding the flock again this year, so the sign can stay out more.


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## Baymule (May 9, 2014)

Hangtown Farms said:


> I get 3.00 a dozen but prefer not to sell eggs to eat as I much rather sell them for 35.00 a dozen plus shipping to someone that wants to hatch them lol


I like the Penedesencas, they lay those gorgeous eggs! Do they make good layers? I have never read about the Empordanesa, they sound interesting too.


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## luvmypets (May 9, 2014)

We sell eggs for 4.00 because they are organic raised free range hens.


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## Hangtown Farms (May 9, 2014)

Baymule said:


> I like the Penedesencas, they lay those gorgeous eggs! Do they make good layers? I have never read about the Empordanesa, they sound interesting too.


Penedesenca are very good layers on Average. The partridge and wheaten lay the darkest on average. I have crele and black. I am hatching some partridge to diversify my crele line.

Empordanesa are a older breed than Penedesenca but similar. Both from the same general region of Spain and lay similar eggs.
eggs vary more in color. one of mine is my lightest another my darkest layer. They are extremely rare in the US. I only really know of 4 or 5 people with them. They are nice size eggs as well.
I have pictures on the website www.penedesencausa.com
I put a page for the Empordanesa since there are so few here.
In Spain they have separate clubs and websites


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## Squirrelgirl88 (May 10, 2014)

I read that you spend an average of $1.90 per dozen in feed and supplies. The eggs in the grocery are $2.00 so I sell mine for $2.50. I feel that is more than fair for large, brown, FRESH, free range eggs. And I deliver! Anyone that wants to pay less than that can eat the grocery store eggs. Since I'm the one with poop on my shoes and occasionally in my hair, I can justify that price!


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## Baymule (May 10, 2014)

@Hangtown Farms I already looked your website over and drooled over the pictures! I have saved your website to my favorites. We are making plans to sell our home and move onto some property (then I can have a rooster) and you will be hearing from me!


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## Hangtown Farms (May 11, 2014)

@Baymule sounds good.They would do great in Texas


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## purplequeenvt (May 14, 2014)

When I do sell eggs, my chicken eggs go for $3/dozen and the duck eggs are $5/dozen. They are not organic, but they are free ranged. Right now I'm barely feeding any grain since they'd rather eat grass and bugs.


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## trampledbygeese (May 17, 2014)

Interesting seeing how much everyone is selling their eggs for.  Your food costs must be so much lower than here.  I have great envy.

At the moment I'm selling mine at $4 for farmgate, and $3.50 wholesale.  We only have 40 chickens (out of the 99 we are allowed before the egg marketing board gets involved), so we only sell to one shop and only what extra our regular farmgate customers don't buy.  

Our price is a bit low for our area, as farm fresh eggs from the island go for anything between $5 to $8 a dozen in the stores and $4 to $6 for farmgate. 

Many of the farm stands in our area put the price per dozen right on their sign.  This is great because I can get an idea as to how much other farmers in our area are selling for.  Most people fluxuate their prices to reflect supply and demand.  So when supply is low and demand is high, like just before Christmas and Easter, you'll be hard pressed to find any local eggs for sale, and if you do, expect to pay at least $6 for a dozen, often much higher.

Personally, we don't alter our prices during the year because it's hard on us to remember, and it's hard on the customers to try to guess what the price will be this week.  We don't have a farmstand and just sell word of mouth, order a few days ahead of time.  This, in a lot of ways, is much nicer than having strangers hanging out on the farm, feeding the animals goodness knows what, leaving gates open, &c.

One of the things to note, is (that in our area - laws differ different places) the eggs being sold in the store MUST have the fancy egg wash thing, which kind of sucks because it reduces the shelf life by a couple of months.  But then again, they sell out faster than we can supply them, so I'm not horribly worried.  We also have to use only new cartons, fancy labeling requirements by law and so on and so forth.  So not only is it more income to sell farmgate, it's also less expense.


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## Prairie Farm Woman (May 17, 2014)

We sell our eggs mostly to friends and family for $2.50 a dozen. Then we eat a lot too. I freeze some in the scrambled form so that I have eggs for cooking during the winter months.


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## happy acres (May 17, 2014)

I started out selling for $2.00 a dozen.  But costs are going up so much, I'm having to go up to $3.00 per. I was actually losing money at the lower price. I'm going to try selling at the farmer's market.


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## silver0202 (Aug 14, 2014)

We first sold eggs at $5/dozen, but now raised the price to $6 for new customers and we cannot keep up with the demand. Hens are fed organic mash as well as organic sprouted fodder. We live in urban Los Angeles.


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## happy acres (Aug 14, 2014)

The person who was buying at 2.00 per would not go up. So now I'm not selling any. The farmer's market would let me sell, but by the time I conformed to all the rules, I'd have to sell for 5.00 per. I just don't think I could sell for that much.


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## mysunwolf (Aug 14, 2014)

Well, I have to weigh in. We're in rural VA and prices are cheap for everything, but we manage to do okay on eggs.

We sell our conventional eggs for $3/doz wholesale, $3.50/doz retail.
Conventional layer pellets are $24.50 for 100#, plus gas to and from the mill.

We sell our eggs from organic-fed hens for $5/doz wholesale, $5.50/doz retail.
Organic layer mash is $55.00 for 100#, plus gas to and from the delivery point.

Customers get retail prices at the Farmers Market, wholesale prices at the farm. We easily sell 4+ dozen per week of the eggs from organic-fed hens, but not sure how many dozen per week would saturate our small market. Most people around here are happy simply with non-GMO, or just backyard.

Just to be clear, no matter how free range mine are, they always seem to eat a ton of feed, even with kitchen scraps in the mix. Not exactly sure how the rest of y'alls hens "would prefer to eat grass and bugs." And I have had a variety of breeds and ages in a variety of different situations. Feed cost at the mill point has a lot to do with how much we sell our eggs for. Average hen eats 1.5 to 2lbs of feed per week, and that's not counting the feed it took to get her to point of lay. You build a chicken house at some point, unless it was already on property or you did it for free, and so paying the $ back on that with eggs takes away from beginning profits. There are more costs in eggs than most people realize.


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## SheepGirl (Aug 14, 2014)

I just bought my 16 week old pullets Southern States layer feed... cost $13.50 for 50 lbs. The last bag of feed I bought was 25 lbs of chick starter and it lasted them 24 days. I'm not sure how much feed they will consume as layers. But from five days to ~16 weeks (109 days), the five pullets ate 75 lbs of feed, which is 15 lbs per bird, or 2.202 oz per bird per day. It costs about 4 cents per day per bird from hatch to 16 weeks. Altogether it's about $4.05 per bird to feed to 16 weeks. Assuming that these birds will produce 27 dozen eggs each in their lifetime (two productive years), the cost to raise the birds spread out over the eggs the five of them produce adds *$0.15/dozen*. You also had to buy the birds. I paid $3.50 for each pullet at the feed store, so *$0.13/dozen*. Assuming the five hens will consume 1.75 lbs of feed per day, the cost from 16 weeks to 104 weeks would be $291.06. Spread over the 27 dozen eggs per hen, that adds *$2.156/dozen*.

Now for lights, you need to add on the electricity. We used one 250 watt light bulb from hatch to 6 weeks. Say you have one 40 watt light bulb in your chicken house from 6 weeks to end of production (two productive years). In our area, electricity costs $0.06577 per kwh. For the brooder, 0.25 kW x $0.06577 x 24 hours = $0.39462 per day to have the heat lamp on. So from five days old (when they were purchased) to 6 weeks, would cost $14.60. For the chicken house, 0.04 kW x $0.06577 x 14 hours = $0.0368312 per day to have light out in the chicken house. Let's just say we provide 14 hours of light year round to make it easier. So the chickens from 6 weeks to 104 weeks would need light. So 98 weeks = 686 days x $0.04648 = $25.27. Adding brooder and daily electricity would be $39.87. Spread over 27 dozen per hen x 5 hens, the additional cost for each dozen would be *$0.30/dozen*.

Plus equipment ($100) and housing ($250), will really increase the prices of the eggs. However you can expect housing to last about 10 years or more ($25/year or $50/flock) and equipment needs to be replaced every 2-4 years ($50/flock). So $100 spread over the eggs would add *$0.74/dozen*.

I think I included most of the costs, so essentially for my own flock I should be charging *$3.48/dozen just to break even*. (I did forget to include labor costs to care for chickens, collect/clean/package eggs, and the cost of the egg cartons.) My hens are in their house all day so I can't market them as anything special, other than they lay brown eggs.

If I had more chickens, housing costs per chicken would be lower, as would feed costs because there is a discount when one buys one ton at a time (40 bags). Economies of scale will allow one to produce eggs more cheaply.

Just some things to think about when figuring out what to charge for eggs....


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## norseofcourse (Aug 14, 2014)

Sheepgirl needs to be 'master of sheep *and* math'!!!


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## Bossroo (Aug 15, 2014)

Sheepgirl ...  CONGRATULATIONS  !!!       You are one of the very few that has a handle on the COSTS of production  that everyone else just have their heads in the sand about.       USDA statistics show that the VAST MAJORITY of small farmers are loosing money in their farming ventures every year.    Don't forget to also add in the costs of your farm ( mortgage/ rent , taxes, insurance, transportation, your and family / labor, marketing,  etc. ).  Also , don't forget that the so called "dual purpose" breeds of chickens  means that they are mediocre at egg and meat production       while the competition is using the specialty breeds such as the Leghorn and Cornish X which outperform the " dual purpose" birds hands down.      This equates to more return on money invested and since they can take advantage of volume  scale discounts of purchased feed, housing, equipment,  power, labor, etc. , they can sell their product  for far less and still make a profit.  Then add the selling costs and profit margin of the grocers and the selling price to the ultimate consumer is still lower than what everyone else is able to sell their produce for.


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## mysunwolf (Aug 15, 2014)

Now just try explaining that math to customers and watch their eyes go blank and fall out of their heads  Or every week explaining that you are losing money on all your products, but that it really helps out with the taxes  And then they _still_ have the nerve to complain about the prices and remind you how cheap they can get it at Walmart...


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## sdcharger (Jun 6, 2015)

I am still building up my laying flock so I don't have too many extra eggs yet.  When I have an extra dozen I often give them to friends and family.  I live outside of the metro area but I work in town.  Sometimes I sell them to people at work who I know really like the fresh eggs and grew up in the country but now live in the city.  This is the farmers market crowd I think you want to be selling to.  I tell them $3 and they give me $4 or $5 lol.


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## Finnie (Apr 13, 2021)

SheepGirl said:


> I just bought my 16 week old pullets Southern States layer feed... cost $13.50 for 50 lbs. The last bag of feed I bought was 25 lbs of chick starter and it lasted them 24 days. I'm not sure how much feed they will consume as layers. But from five days to ~16 weeks (109 days), the five pullets ate 75 lbs of feed, which is 15 lbs per bird, or 2.202 oz per bird per day. It costs about 4 cents per day per bird from hatch to 16 weeks. Altogether it's about $4.05 per bird to feed to 16 weeks. Assuming that these birds will produce 27 dozen eggs each in their lifetime (two productive years), the cost to raise the birds spread out over the eggs the five of them produce adds *$0.15/dozen*. You also had to buy the birds. I paid $3.50 for each pullet at the feed store, so *$0.13/dozen*. Assuming the five hens will consume 1.75 lbs of feed per day, the cost from 16 weeks to 104 weeks would be $291.06. Spread over the 27 dozen eggs per hen, that adds *$2.156/dozen*.
> 
> Now for lights, you need to add on the electricity. We used one 250 watt light bulb from hatch to 6 weeks. Say you have one 40 watt light bulb in your chicken house from 6 weeks to end of production (two productive years). In our area, electricity costs $0.06577 per kwh. For the brooder, 0.25 kW x $0.06577 x 24 hours = $0.39462 per day to have the heat lamp on. So from five days old (when they were purchased) to 6 weeks, would cost $14.60. For the chicken house, 0.04 kW x $0.06577 x 14 hours = $0.0368312 per day to have light out in the chicken house. Let's just say we provide 14 hours of light year round to make it easier. So the chickens from 6 weeks to 104 weeks would need light. So 98 weeks = 686 days x $0.04648 = $25.27. Adding brooder and daily electricity would be $39.87. Spread over 27 dozen per hen x 5 hens, the additional cost for each dozen would be *$0.30/dozen*.
> 
> ...


Interesting looking at this old thread and egg prices from 7 years ago. I’ve had chickens for 6 1/2 years now. From the beginning, I have kept track of every expense (not including electricity or gas to go buy chickens and feed) and counted every (good) egg that I have collected from them.  I subtract any money I get from selling birds, but I do not subtract the egg money that comes in. If I want to know how much egg “money” I’ve received, I take the total number of eggs and multiple by $3.5. The way I see it, whether I’ve sold the eggs, eaten them, hatched them, given them as gifts, or fed them back to any animals, I still received value for them, just not necessarily in cash. Also, I keep track of coops and buildings separately, because the hens will never be able to pay for what I’ve spent on those. 

I started out selling eggs for $3 per dozen, plus 50 cents carton deposit, unless they exchanged an empty one. After a few years I raised it to $3.50 per dozen with carton exchange, or $4 without. I did not raise it during the pandemic just on principle, although I will probably raise my price eventually.

If I take the net amount of money I have spent on chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, feed and equipment minus sales of birds, and divide it between how many dozens of eggs my girls have produced (2,142 dozen to date!) then I figure it has cost me $6.51 to produce each dozen. It used to come in around $8/dozen, but I had a really good year for selling birds last year.

So I have always had a good grasp on the fact that for me, this is just an expensive hobby, and selling eggs really only helps reduce the expenses somewhat. The only real way to make any money is through sales of birds, but it is a lot of work (and housing) to make sure the eggs are purebred. Oh, and this is all assuming I don’t take any wages for the work. Speaking of which, I also don’t count what I pay for chicken sitters if I have to leave. I count that expense towards my husband’s vacation budget, if he’s going to insist I go places once in a while! 😂

PS: I also forgot to figure in the 37 pounds of chicken meat we’ve eaten and the endless supply of chicken broth.


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## Chiknoodle (Aug 21, 2021)

I sell mine for $3 a dozen.


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## farmerjan (Aug 22, 2021)

I used to run 100-150 hens on free range pasture.  I bought the pullets ready to lay @8.00 each and then the price went to 10.00 each .  But I was not tied up with baby chick raising and waiting 16-20 weeks to get eggs.  Still, that is about what it costs to raise a pullet from baby chick to laying pullet so I just cut out that step as it allowed me to see an immediate return on my cost.  
I sold for 2.25 wholesale to the food co-op and then 3.00-4.00 here at the farm.  I made a little,  but it did allow me to absorb the costs of my purebred show birds in the feed costs.  I just like the chickens,  and they were performing a service out on the pasture with running loose and fertilizing and scratching up the cow patties.  This was in 2010.  I did it for several years until I started having trouble with an eagle that decided that it was just too easy to pick up a chicken every day.... I lost 122 over the course of a year and other than keep them confined... which negated their free range status and benefits... there was little else I could do except vary their times to be let out and such.  Replaced about 25  2 different times that year but the predation was too much and the neighbors all were so in awe of the eagles and ooohed and aaahed over them... plus the fact that many are chipped so no way was I going to risk the eagle "disappearing"..... so at the end of the fall, I gave it up.  I listened to these high faluting neighbors in their 350,000 + dollar homes on 2-5 acres in their exclusive subdivision with all sorts of restrictions, complain about the price of the eggs.... and I just said, screw you.  Now I don't have to worry about them, and I eat good from my own purebred birds.  I raise a bunch of  cornish x for meat and occasionally kill a few extra roosters if needed... eat from a neighbors garden since I moved and am planning to have both knees replaced this fall... then next year hope to be back to doing for myself better and more... I would like to sell some produce in season if all goes as planned with the garden... we will see how the knees do.  I might sell a few eggs again, but will not go back to the size that I had because it is too much work for the return.  Have thought about raising some pullets up to sell as ready to lay as they have gotten pretty expensive here now... Maybe next year, i will think about it.  Need to have them ready to lay in the spring so would have to raise them up through the winter when costs would be higher... but I could raise different breeds to be offered for sale...Considering my options.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 22, 2021)

I have only a few customers and they are ones who like the taste over store bought.  A fresh, free range egg is a more intense egg taste.   It's hard to get customers when commercial is sold for a $1 per doz and ours are more.   However -- in store the free range are $3-4 per doz and we know they're not as fresh.  Plus commercial free range only means they have access to an area outside the house.  They sure aren't "free ranging" like ours!!   I get $3 a doz.  Doesn't always cover feed now with fewer to buy them but, I like my chickens and their bug eating, manure scratching, fertilizing features.   😁   Unless I'm baking, I rarely use 2 dz a yr for myself.  Need to eat more of them...theyre a healthy protein.


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## Bruce (Aug 24, 2021)

I sell to people down where I used to live and still go down once a week. $4/doz delivered to their homes.


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## Alaskan (Aug 26, 2021)

$5 a dozen.

And nope, I don't do the math.


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## Bruce (Aug 27, 2021)

I do the math - sort of. I know how much I've spent on the chickens and I know how much I've brought selling eggs. But I've not accounted for the eggs we eat or give to family.


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