Honesty box?
- Thread starter nessa
- Start date
Depends on the local demand. As a starting piint, find out how much 'nice'' eggs are going for in your local shops, or from any other occasional sellers at the garden gate, and don't be afraid to charge more for 'proper' eggs from garden hens. Make a sign which demonstrates the superior freshness and traceability of your lovely eggs. I've found that people really like to know the names of the hens involved, eg ' Lovely fresh eggs from Marigold, Nutmeg, Saffron and Ginger' and ask after the girls by name! Once people notice they are there they will sell quickly. Work out how much each egg actually costs to produce (cost of a bag of feed divided by the number of days it lasts divided by the number if hens, whether in lay or not, plus an allowance for bedding, wormers and other expenses.) mine work out at about 15p per egg, so I charge £1.50 for 6 and have no difficulty in selling them. Mind you, I only have a few spares in summer when they're all laying, as I haven't got enough hens to produce a lot of extras. How many do you expect to sell each week, com how many hens?
Of course if they don't sell, you can always reduce the price, but if you set it too low at the start and they all sell within 10 minutes its difficult to increase it!
I expect it also depends on how much foot traffic you get past your house. If not much, try a little flyer to your neighbours, who may like a regular boxful if you can deliver them.
Of course if they don't sell, you can always reduce the price, but if you set it too low at the start and they all sell within 10 minutes its difficult to increase it!
I expect it also depends on how much foot traffic you get past your house. If not much, try a little flyer to your neighbours, who may like a regular boxful if you can deliver them.
Thank you for your very helpful reply. We live on a road with not much foot traffic so I love your idea of a flyer to neighbours. My daughter has even offered to go and deliver the eggs once a week with her boyfriend!! I shall make the flyer friendly and chatty saying Lovely fresh eggs from Clara, Vera, Doris etc. Can't list all the names as I have 25 hens. They are not laying that many at the moment but too many or our consumption. It would be lovely to have a little money back to put towards the food and bedding etc. I am about to branch out with fantail doves. I have been given a beautiful dovecote for my 50th birthday.
That's great. I toyed with the idea of doves a year or so ago but didn't get round to it - partly because I could see that they would all be likely to sit on the roof of our neighbours new summerhouse, right next to the best place for the dovecote, and I know he wouldn't appreciate the mess! Also we get sparrow hawks flying through the garden and picking off sparrows and collared doves so I couldn't face losing my doves, hope yours will be OK. Have you got the special netting to confine them to the dovecote for the first 6-8 weeks?
I am all ready for them. The netting is up like a wigwam anchored down with lots of logs so foxes etc cannot get in. I shall definitely keep them in for at least 6 weeks. I don't want them flying away. A friend of mine is giving me 12 fantail doves and they are arriving on the 9th February. I am very excited!!
chrismahon
Well-known member
Hi Nessa. They are really into doves and pigeons here. They had fantails (and peacocks) at a place in Dordogne we visited. The display of the cock fantails is amazing.
When we first started we sold the eggs to friends in boxes with a picture of the hens on and their names, but the printing got rather expensive. New egg boxes were expensive as well so we used to ask people to bring us old ones. We used to charge £1.30 for half a dozen medium sized eggs and £1.60 for large eggs, which was in 2012. You are not officially allowed to weigh them and sell graded as such (because the scales are not calibrated) but we ignored that rule and no-one questioned it. We left the eggs in a cool box with a jar for the money inside as well. We were only short changed a few times in two years. Ours were sold as 'traditional free range eggs' as all our laying birds eventually were Pedigrees, not hybrids, with an unrestricted run of the half acre garden. No-one ever asked to see them though, but they enjoyed meeting Bottom our pet Buff Orpington Cock. He used to drum up sales by crowing at the back door!
When we first started we sold the eggs to friends in boxes with a picture of the hens on and their names, but the printing got rather expensive. New egg boxes were expensive as well so we used to ask people to bring us old ones. We used to charge £1.30 for half a dozen medium sized eggs and £1.60 for large eggs, which was in 2012. You are not officially allowed to weigh them and sell graded as such (because the scales are not calibrated) but we ignored that rule and no-one questioned it. We left the eggs in a cool box with a jar for the money inside as well. We were only short changed a few times in two years. Ours were sold as 'traditional free range eggs' as all our laying birds eventually were Pedigrees, not hybrids, with an unrestricted run of the half acre garden. No-one ever asked to see them though, but they enjoyed meeting Bottom our pet Buff Orpington Cock. He used to drum up sales by crowing at the back door!
Make sure to take some photos, Nessa, we shall be waiting to see them.
Royal Henfield
New member
Don't be disheartened if your eggs are a bit slow to start selling - once you have some customers they will definitely keep coming back for more. If you do not extend your laying season with artificial light I would suggest that you make sure face to face customers are aware of the seasonal aspect of natural egg production & that you can't necessarily produce x number of boxes on demand every week, also that egg sizes will naturally vary.
Thank you everyone for all your advice. I shall design and print my own labels. Produce a flyer to pop into the neighbours and go from there. As for the doves. I will take loads of photos. Might have to ask my husband how to send them to you.
There's a subsection of the General Chickens forum headed Pictures of Chickens which has some help about posting photos, here http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=77
This is Part 1 of a two- section post about how to do it. Also see Part 2 here
http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5624
This is Part 1 of a two- section post about how to do it. Also see Part 2 here
http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5624
valeriebutterley
New member
Hello Nessa,
I charge £2.50 a dozen for my eggs, it does help towards the cost of feed, bedding and any extras, etc.
It is the only hobby I've ever had that other people willingly help with contributions towards the upkeep of the feathery equipment!!
I charge £2.50 a dozen for my eggs, it does help towards the cost of feed, bedding and any extras, etc.
It is the only hobby I've ever had that other people willingly help with contributions towards the upkeep of the feathery equipment!!
