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Marketing Your Surplus Eggs

This article follows on from Selling Your Eggs at the Farm Gate

If, like many 'backyard chicken keepers' you get hooked and decide to have a few more hens, the surplus eggs can start to become a real problem. 10 hens could be producing 2,500 or more eggs a year. Since they lay less in the winter, this means some weeks you'll be looking at nearly 6 dozen eggs.

OK, don't worry - I'm not suggesting you hire an advertising agency and survey focus groups but you do need to tell people what you're selling.

Put Up a Sign

First you need to put a sign up. Make the sign large enough to be easily read from the road and make sure it's positioned so it can be easily seen. Remember a car may be doing 30mph so it needs to be large enough to be read in the time it whizzes by. Not a bill board though!

If you find sign painting daunting, print your sign on paper using your computer, then cover with cling film or laminate to stop it washing away in a shower. Keep it simple - 'Eggs For Sale' says it all.

In smaller letters you should put a smaller message like 'Just Knock on the Door' or 'House up the Path, Just Knock on the Door'. Many people are reticent to just walk up a private drive and knock. I know it seems a bit unnecessary but trust me, it tells people they are welcome.

Another good tip is to have a second sign under the top one which is on hooks and can be changed saying "Eggs in Stock" or "Sorry Sold Out Today" This actually does two things, it tells them they are not wasting their time coming up your drive or if they see 'sold out' it tells them your eggs are really fresh.

Be Careful About Claims

Avoid using descriptive terms like 'organic' or 'free range'. These are legal terms and you may need to prove your status legally. If someone asks, offer to show them your hens. Once they see your hens and you explain why you hate battery keeping you will have a customer for life.

Generating customers for your eggs.

If the sign doesn't raise enough interest to move your surplus eggs, perhaps you're out of the way and off the beaten track, you'll need to build up a customer base.

The best method is word of mouth. If you've a load of eggs over and you're not going to be able to sell them - give some away. If someone buys a dozen eggs, give them an extra half dozen and tell them to tell their friends.

Advertising is pretty pointless and certainly not cost effective but a few leaflets in the locality will help. If you're hard to find, then a little map can work wonders, along with a phone number if they get lost.

There's more information on the DEFRA web site

Articles About Eggs

• Selling Your Surplus Eggs at the Gate
• Selling Your Surplus Eggs - Marketing
• Selling Your Surplus Eggs - Markets etc
• Egg Shell Colour - Genetics & Araucana
• What Causes Pale Eggs
• What Causes Double Yolk Eggs
• Problems With Eggs - Yolks & Whites
• Egg Shell Colour by Breed Chart
• What to do with Surplus Eggs - Storing Eggs
• Know Your Eggs - Explains the Egg Descriptions in the Shops