Many people with a backyard flock often end up with more fresh eggs than their families can eat. Selling chicken eggs for profit becomes not only a benefit of having chickens, but it can also help earn a little extra money to help with the bills. Anyone who eats eggs in your area could be a potential customer. There is a real difference between farm eggs and store eggs. Backyard eggs tend to taste fresher and the yolk looks brighter and better formed. It’s often easy to find customers, once they’ve tasted the difference and can appreciate the benefits!

If your goal is to sell chicken eggs for a profit, start by choosing hens for your flock that are known to be better egg layers, such as White Leghorns. They produce white eggs in large numbers, which is great if you want more eggs from fewer birds. If you want to offer something a little different, which might help sell more eggs, try breeding Golden Comet or Red Sex Links, both of which lay copious amounts of brown eggs.

To help with planning, consider that most hens will be between 5 and 7 months old when they begin to lay eggs. The most productive egg-laying period is when the hens are 1-2 years old. The eggs start out smaller when the hens start to lay, but their size will be more normal when the layers are about a year old. When they start to lay eggs, hens have an average of one egg every three to four days. At seven months, you should probably receive about 2 suppositories every 3 days. The best layers can average 1 egg per day, in their prime, if you’re lucky. For planning purposes, if you sell chicken eggs for profit, you should plan to get 4-5 eggs per chicken, per week. If you have 10 hens that are good egg layers, they should produce 40-50 high-quality, farm-fresh eggs per week. If your family needs a dozen a week, you can probably sell the other 2-3 dozen eggs.

Daylight is what causes egg production in a hen, not a rooster. For a steady flow of eggs, hens need 14-16 hours of light per day. This can be achieved with natural light and by adding additional lighting. If lighting decreases, so does egg production. Fewer eggs equals less profit!

Ideally, if you want to sell chicken eggs for a profit, you should collect them at least twice a day. When the temperature is very hot or very cold, it is convenient to try to collect them more frequently. Eggs get dirtier and more likely to break if they sit too long in the nest box. Once removed, clean the eggs with a natural egg cleaner, or egg wipes, or wash and dry. Once they are dry, place them in the egg carton. Once in the box, keep the eggs refrigerated until ready to sell.

Do some research locally to find out how much other farm fresh eggs are selling for. If you have followed all organic practices in raising your chickens, including feeding certified organic feed, selling organic eggs will provide a higher selling price and attract a segment of the buying public that will value and remain loyal to buying organic products by their families. Set your egg prices to be similar to your local market. Specialty eggs, such as multicolors from Araucanas or eggs from free-range hens, can also add value and fetch higher prices.

Neighbors, relatives, and co-workers are easy customers and a great place to start. As you progress and have enough fresh eggs to sell to a larger audience, you might see if a local farm stand would be willing to sell them on consignment or buy them for resale. A consignment offer gives the farm stand owner a risk-free way to earn money and increase their product offerings to their customers. Other options might be to see if any local markets, restaurants, or hotels might be interested in buying your eggs.

Lastly, if you have the ability to produce a larger number of eggs, there are egg brokers you can turn to for help selling, as well as egg producer cooperatives that will help you sell their members’ eggs. With any endeavor like this, always check and comply with local laws regarding the sale of farm products like eggs.

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