Selling free range eggs? How much do you charge?

telboyo

I bought some duck eggs from llanelli market at the weekend £1.20 1/2 doz. They were much bigger than the free range duck eggs you get in morrisons or tesco. They made very nice scrambled eggs and incredibly light pancakes. Llanelli and swansea indoor markets are brilliant, selling all manner of local produce and home grown plants etc. Round here they just call them "the market" if they were any where else in the country they would be known as a farmers market and charge accordingly.

hex2

The local Co-op sells a dozen free range eggs for £2.60. Gives you a sense of perspective doesn't it? My girls give me 4 eggs a day, and we give the spares away. Never thought about charging for them

N9eav

It's a lot cheaper to keep a few hens. When you get larger numbers then they eat sacks of food a week, but then again I can't eat 30 eggs a day, so I have to make some money to cover the cost.

Penelope_Penguin

N9eav wrote: »

It's a lot cheaper to keep a few hens. When you get larger numbers then they eat sacks of food a week, but then again I can't eat 30 eggs a day, so I have to make some money to cover the cost.

Do you mind my asking why you keep so many hens (as I notice that you have a further 20 eggs incubating atm). Why not just keep enough hens to keep you and your family in eggs?

Penny. x

Optimistic_Saver

Noozan wrote: »

We generally give our surplus eggs away to family and friends or sell them for £1 a dozen at DH's work. The feed we buy is £6.89 for a 20kg sack and lasts our 5 girls about 90 days ish. This is supplemented with kitchen scraps, excess veg from the garden and the occasional handful of corn. I've never actually worked out whether selling at this price "costs" us money or not....

Hi Noozan - we are just about to take four rescue chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. Can't wait to pick them up and give them a good life pecking free range in our garden. Have had lots of great advice from people, including a friend who already has rescue hens.

However, I was just wondering where you get your 20kg sack of feed for £6.89 - what it is and where you buy it from. Hope you don't mind me asking? :T

I know my OH will delight in feeding our four new 'girls' all sorts of lovely food and food scraps but it would be good to have a few recommendations regarding main food, if you know what I mean....

Thanks so much.

Angelina-M

Layer pellets were my hens main food. They used to be £5.99 for a 20kg sack but have gone up to £6.89 round here too.

Then they would get kitchen scraps and whatever they could dig up in the garden.

recovering_spendaholic

If anyone knows anywhere selling free range eggs for £1 or less for half a dozen in the Crosby, Formby, Southport, lydiate Ormskirk area, can they PM me please?

trying-very-trying

Just to let you all know, I pay £2.00 a dozen for free range hen eggs. From a different source I also buy f/r duck eggs @ £3.00 a dozen and goose eggs @ £2.00 per half dozen, but this money goes to a local charity, so I don't mind. Apparently my duck and goose lady doesn't like chickens, shame really 'cos it would be nice to get them all from the same supplier. I don't grudge the price I pay for these eggs, because we do get great vale from them and it is nice to see the ducks and geese sunbathing when I go to collect.
P.S I'm sure that the chickens do sunbathe as well, but hubby always gets the hen eggs, and usually at night.

Noozan

Optimistic_Saver wrote: »

Hi Noozan - we are just about to take four rescue chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. Can't wait to pick them up and give them a good life pecking free range in our garden. Have had lots of great advice from people, including a friend who already has rescue hens.

However, I was just wondering where you get your 20kg sack of feed for £6.89 - what it is and where you buy it from. Hope you don't mind me asking? :T

I know my OH will delight in feeding our four new 'girls' all sorts of lovely food and food scraps but it would be good to have a few recommendations regarding main food, if you know what I mean....

Thanks so much.

Hi

I buy layers pellets for our girls from a local shop; it's actually predominantly an equine shop but they sell dog and poultry food too. In the winter months, I sometimes buy layers mash (same price) as mix it with some warm water before feeding - it takes them longer to eat it and gives them something to do as there's less bugs to scratch for. Maybe I'm just soft, lol.

I *think* I've seen large sacks of corn and pellets for sale in the local Pets at Home (kept near the wild bird seed and peanuts etc) but didn't look at the price of them there.

I tend to feed pellets in the morning and scraps/treats etc in late afternoon as given the choice, they'll ignore the pellets if they think there's something else on offer!

I hope you enjoy your Girls!

moggylover

N9eav wrote: »

Good luck with your rescue chickens. I had them once. They are very institutionalised!. Mine never went out, sat on the floor and would not eat pellets only mash. They did not lay either, so I gave them away. I am sure with patience they might come round.

I have rescue birds now in once sense and they were resuced from going in to the battery house. I know a farm where they raise chickens for the house and always raise too many. That's so they always have enough for themselves if some die along the way. They sell the surplus for £4 each. Pooint of lay, perfect and an egg a day for 18 months.... Cheep! .....and happy chickens now.

I will keep you posted on how mine do: my friend did say that when they first arrived they had no intention of leaving their little shed at all - so she put their food and water just outside the door so that they had to - and then moved it a little further from the door each day! She said it looked really funny - but rather sad - that they were scared to put their heads outside at first, Lady from the rescue says they are better if you rescue a smaller number and have a couple of non-rescues for them to copy - so I think I will probably try this system. Told OH (who grew up on a farm) about the non-laying - he said to borrow a cockerel - or at least play a tape recording of a cockerel to them (lol - sorry I just find that REALLY funny somehow - it feels a bit like watching Swayze in dirty dancing before going to bed, IYSWIM!) and they will come back into lay.