farmer's markets and eggs

[the simple life]

I am going to be selling chicken eggs at a couple of our local farmer markets.
My question is, for those of you who sell eggs as well, what do you do about refrigerating them beforehand?
I mean, if its only a few dozen then you can throw them in the frig, but what if you are going to be selling multiple dozens.
How does everyone else store all the eggs until market day?
I just got rid of my extra frig, I am not sure I want to get one again.
I know that other countries do not even refrigerate eggs, but its common practice here and not sure what everyone else does if they are going to be selling alot.

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have a cellar? I will be selling from my house, so I will be having an older frig in the garage, from which they can get them, under the honor system. I think they would probably freak if they thought they weren't refrigerated. Most folks aren't real educated about egg storage. But, if I were taking them elsewhere to sell, I would keep them in my cellar, like grandma used to do. I would think anywhere cool and dry would suffice!

 

[the simple life]

Yup, I have a cellar, the kind you use for root cellaring. Stone walls, dirt floor stays cool all year.
I hadn't thought of that, but the eggs would stay very cold down there.
I have been debating whether or not I want to replace the extra frig/freezer that just went.
I guess it would probably be a good idea, you can get the free any day of the week now it seems.
I usually see alot of offers on freecycle.com

 

[FarmerChick]

We sell 70 to 80 dozen per week at the farmers market. Price: $3.75 dozen. Nice money actually.

We must buy new cartons for selling to the public at the market (check your local rules)

I have 4 refrigerators. I store eggs in plastic buckets in the frig, then I do a light wash with water to remove poop and such, cause customers ain't buying if dirty.

I then put the cartons in one frig til market day each saturday. I carry in monster coolers (pack 30 doz per cooler) and put 2 ice bottles in there.....make ice bottles from old juice and coke bottles and freeze. Cheap and perfect.

That is what I do...hope some of that helps

 

[the simple life]

Thanks that helps. I bought new cartons, they were delivered yesterday.
The people at the markets around here are selling their eggs for between $4.00 and $5.00 and they said they sell out every week.
So I am debating on what to charge, I am thinking maybe right in the middle and go with $4.50.
It won't take much egg selling to make my money back either and then the rest is profit, which will at least cover the upkeep involved with raising the chickens and it will be a way to get rid of all the eggs I should have when they all start laying.
Actually,come to think of it, I would only have to sell a few dozen a week in order to cover their feed for a month, so I should have some decent pocket money left.
I found an egg carton carrier that will hold 30 dozen eggs at a time and I was thinking that I could sit the whole carrier in a tub of ice, the plastic bottles are a good idea and probably much easier to deal with.
They will also probably take us less room in the frig than I think they will, a bucket would work well like you said, or the big draw in the bottom of the frig.

 

[FarmerChick]

simplelife
sounds good....you are well on your way to making great profits!
Wish my area could support between $4-5
Soon, but not yet...LOL...everyone was $3.25 and then increased to $3.75

I get my egg cartons from www.eggboxes.com they seemed to be the cheapest for me. I buy 400 at a time and that don't last long..HA HA

I do use return egg cartons from my customers only--my own. If slightly dirty I recycle and reuse, but if perfectly clean I swipe down with a damp cloth. Hey, every cent saved..HA HA

My feed is $290-310 per ton. I get 1 ton every 5 weeks. So the first weeks eggs almost pay for the feed....so yes, decent money. Great pocket money the government don't see...HA HA

Best of luck and I hope they sell like hotcakes for ya!

 

[krjwaj]

We sell 70 to 80 dozen per week at the farmers market. Price: $3.75 dozen. Nice money actually.

WOW! That's a lot of eggs! Are they brown or white? I just saw a post on Craigslist for brown eggs $3./dozen in the next county.

 

[poppycat]

Just curious FarmerChick and the simple life, how large are your flocks? Also do you have any idea how large they would need to be to cross the line between break even and profitable?

 

[FarmerChick]

Hey Kim
we are brown only now...go figure...we did do both, but customers assumed from the farm meant brown...???--LOL

Craigslist...never thought of selling there but the main market we sell is Charlotte and Tony gets there at 7 and is sold out by 9

 

[FarmerChick]

hey poppycat
ya just gotta do the math
we have about 400
250 in laying stage, 150 in backup baby stage. So when 2 - 2 1/2 years come we sell all the hens, and the new take over.

so it is a full operation for us.

But figure cost of hens, feed, cartons if needed, etc. and you can figure

BUT--I know the more animals are needed in an area to make money. Animals are hard to make money on...they are alive and anything alive is bad, believe me..LOL

I can leave the farm and let a tomatoe die, but I can't leave live animals...so...??