Price of eggs

My eggs cost the time it takes to walk to my chicken coop. I got sick of paying $3+ for a dozen.

Eta-feed here runs me $26/month for 41 chickens.
38 are hens. Even on a bad day, i can bank on a dozen eggs.

i buy a couple 5.5 dozen boxes at a time, they are around $7 at WM.

I raise my own chickens and love their eggs. In winter, as the sun is out for fewer hours each day, the girls go from laying one egg every day to one egg every week or two. This is natural, and even artificial light that is used by mass-producers doesn't bring production completely back to the normal high level experienced during longer days.

In November I got 15-18 eggs per day; now I get 4-5 eggs per day. In addition, keep in mind that it costs about .86 per day to feed my flock of 17 during warmer days when they can forage. With snow on the ground, I have to supplement their food with additional grains as they need a layer of fat to stay warm.

Hope this sheds some light on why eggs are so expensive.

Interesting.

However, large producers have negotiation power with feed companies, so they likely get it for pennies on the dollar compared to what you get. They also pay slave labor wages to the workers, and they have a systematic way of caring for the animals that is efficient and probably very cost effective. So, they can sell for much less than your cost. I would guess that their profit margins are fairly high, but I could be wrong. High margins don't mean big money. The money is in the volume when you have a relatively inexpensive product, like an egg.

Thx for the post, Jerry. Big egg producers use consistent indoor lighting to get the girls laying during low-light months, and yes, their feed prices are likely better. But they traditionally do not allow their girls out of doors during any months, so they don't ever forage (which my girls do for free on my land). This likely impacts the price of doing business. Their girls are kept in super-small spaces and the "nest boxes" where eggs are laid are moving belts. The eggs are then bleached. It's a fascinating business.

I used to buy the free-range natural eggs and paid anywhere from $4 and up. I didn't notice a big difference. Not worth the price, IMO.

Pretty sure the point of buying free-range eggs isn't about the taste, but about the ethics of how animals are raised. That's what makes it "worth the price." (Although, I often wonder how "free range" grocery store eggs with that label actually are--that's why I get mine from a farm.)

I disagree; truly free-range eggs are better tasting. Depending upon what the chickens are feeding on, the taste can be quite different. Look at the yolks in your farm-raised eggs and notice the deeper color if the girls are feeding on worms, bugs, and greens. This is a result of better feeding and typically translates to a heartier taste. I've read a lot of debates on the health factors present in free-range v. caged (both extremes of the spectrum) and can't tell if there is truly any dietary health advantage to eating the free-range over the caged, but I do prefer the flavor of my free-range eggs.

I get mine free from a friend who has their own hens, so I have no idea what they cost in the store.

The reason the prices are going up is because of the drought in the Midwest last year. There was a shortage of corn, so the price went sky high, therefore costing more to feed the birds, hogs, beef, etc. The prices SHOULD go down next year, but this winter will be an expensive one for eggs & meat.

I was shocked when I had to pay $3.50 for one pound of plain pork sausage. The price of bacon is also creeping up. I've paid $8.00 for one pound, and still will. I cant live without it. lol It is cheaper at Costco though, 3lbs for 14.00, I think.

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Anyone looking for the cheapest egg prices they can find, I invite to watch videos on factory farms and factory eggs. Those chicks live miserable, miserable short lives laid from chickens who live equally miserable lives. All you need to do is Google it. You'd be disgusted. Eggs from locally, pastured chickens is the only way to go. The yokes are richer and creamier and the flavor doesn't compare.

I realize this is a loaded statement- but there is a reason I'm an apex predator and chickens aren't.

If you did a blind taste test and prepared all the following the exact same
local pastured chickens eggs
Factory farm chicken eggs
Tortured chicken egg

I probably couldn't tell you the difference.

I don't care- it's in my fridge- and there for I eat it. a handful of people protesting this isnt' going to stop it. I might as well save myself some money.


And don't watch those ridiculously over emotional documentaries.

You can tell a big difference in the eggs bought from the grocery store and those bought from a local farm.............the taste difference is no comparison.

I bought a dozen normal (as in not free range / organic or anything else) eggs from the local SUPERMARKET the other day and it cost me $6.99.

I would never eat eggs again!

Anyone looking for the cheapest egg prices they can find, I invite to watch videos on factory farms and factory eggs. Those chicks live miserable, miserable short lives laid from chickens who live equally miserable lives. All you need to do is Google it. You'd be disgusted. Eggs from locally, pastured chickens is the only way to go. The yokes are richer and creamier and the flavor doesn't compare.

I realize this is a loaded statement- but there is a reason I'm an apex predator and chickens aren't.

If you did a blind taste test and prepared all the following the exact same
local pastured chickens eggs
Factory farm chicken eggs
Tortured chicken egg

I probably couldn't tell you the difference.

I don't care- it's in my fridge- and there for I eat it. a handful of people protesting this isnt' going to stop it. I might as well save myself some money.


And don't watch those ridiculously over emotional documentaries.

You can tell a big difference in the eggs bought from the grocery store and those bought from a local farm.............the taste difference is no comparison.

^^ Indeed.

Not only the taste but the way they look as well. I can definitely tell the difference when I buy farm fresh.

I used to buy the free-range natural eggs and paid anywhere from $4 and up. I didn't notice a big difference. Not worth the price, IMO.

Pretty sure the point of buying free-range eggs isn't about the taste, but about the ethics of how animals are raised. That's what makes it "worth the price." (Although, I often wonder how "free range" grocery store eggs with that label actually are--that's why I get mine from a farm.)

I disagree; truly free-range eggs are better tasting. Depending upon what the chickens are feeding on, the taste can be quite different. Look at the yolks in your farm-raised eggs and notice the deeper color if the girls are feeding on worms, bugs, and greens. This is a result of better feeding and typically translates to a heartier taste. I've read a lot of debates on the health factors present in free-range v. caged (both extremes of the spectrum) and can't tell if there is truly any dietary health advantage to eating the free-range over the caged, but I do prefer the flavor of my free-range eggs.

Huh, you may be correct! Honestly, I haven't purchased eggs at the grocery store in about 3 years, so I may have forgotten this difference. I've never really noticed one. There is definitely a difference in the color and size of the yolks, however. And way more double yolks! I've even had the occasional mutant egg with no yoke, just whites--freaky.

My main point, though, was that taste and health isn't, in my opinion, the #1 reason to buy local/free range eggs. I get that they're not in everyone's budget, but I'd rather save money by just eating fewer eggs and feeling OK about where they come from than saving money by buying cheap eggs. I grew up in a rural area surrounded by industrial agriculture, so factory farming is very familiar to me and continues to creep me out. (Apologies for the soapbox--realize I sound like a bit of an *kitten*, haha.)

The eggs are then bleached. It's a fascinating business.

all eggs should be dipped in bleach. Even farm ones. There is a fecal contact issue at hand. And this comes from a biologist who is an expert at such things.... we had a long conversation about this because my boss is extremely "clean" and into like hippy- gluten free- no processed stuff- and the secretary brings in her farm fresh eggs.... and co-worker says they definitely should be bleached...

boss clearly doesn't like this- but it's kind of a safety hazard.

Funny that people didn't bleach eggs for years and years and was never an issue...................a little bird poop never hurt anyone.

The eggs I get from the farm will never come close to any bleach or other cleaner.

Same here.

There's no way I'm going to contaminate my food with a horrible contaminant. I'm trying to cut back on noxious household cleaners.

I rarely look at the cost of the food I put in my cart, if I need something I get it. Tonight I picked up a dozen eggs. When the heck did they jump to $2.08?!?!?!? Is this the going price these days?:ohwell:

...Not since I've been shopping at Save-A-Lot where 30 eggs can be had for $2.50. It seems like yesterday when a dozen eggs was 69 cents. *sigh*

organic eggs, I pay anywhere from 3.49 to 5.00 !! per dozen