Goomba38 wrote:

>
> Price of eggs: a friend of mine now has about 20 to 30 chickens. Her
> children will be collecting the eggs and selling them for $1.00/dozen.
> She's been asking everyone to collect their egg cartons for her. I've
> never used home laid eggs, and wonder if there is anything I need to be
> aware of? I know commercial egg producers "candle" their eggs but I
> don't think these kids will be doing so.

Little chicken knowledge (long):

First of all, home raised eggs, raised on good (organic?) feed and
kitchen scraps beat the commercial egg hands down. You should be able
to see a difference in the quality of the yolks and also you should be
able to get the eggs fresh whereas supermarket eggs are often already
4-6 weeks old. If you've never had a fresh egg, you're in for a treat,
just remember you shouldn't boil a fresh egg because they don't peel.
Make sure you wash the eggs because they may not have which on one hand
preserves the protective outer membrane but on the other hand means that
the egg may have dirt and bacteria from the nest or the chicken (um, a
chicken only has one hole if that makes sense) so if you know they are
not washing them, do so.

If your friend has both roosters and hens and keeps them together then
it's possible that you will be getting fertilized eggs, but if they
gather them on a regular basis (i.e. every morning, twice in summer
heat) then that egg has no way to incubate and develop and you'll never
see the difference. Also a hen has to want to sit on eggs to incubate
them and usually they don't and just lay it and wander off. If they
gather on a regular basis, have built nests for the hens so they know
where all the eggs are and snatch away the eggs from any broody hens,
you have nothing at all to worry about. Farm stand eggs are often
fertilized and nobody is the wiser.

If she is raising free range, organic or at least free range, 1.00/dozen
is dirt cheap -- she should be able to sell them for 3.00 or 4.00 in
some places (I've even seen 5 in some farmer's markets), but if she only
has 20 chickens, it's probably more for fun. (fyi, a chicken will lay 1
egg ever 2-3 days so you can do the math) I can't imagine the price
will stay that way if she has to buy cartons. Enjoy! I used to raise
chickens in the city and I miss it!