[garddwr]

Would it be legal to sell eggs by putting a sign at the bottom of the drive ?
Do you need a liscence ?

[Knight Family]

Yes, I read some where about farm gate sales, but what you also need to do is but a sign or lable saying eat 3 weeks from purchase to cover you on that side.

[chookiepaula]

Its fine to sell excess eggs on the gate. Legally its classified as excess eggs from the farm, you house in this case is allowed to act as the 'farm'. The only restriction is that you cannot classify them as anything ie. cannot call them free range, large, medium etc. To keep legal its best to call them 'fresh eggs'.

[garddwr]

Thanks.

I've also heard you shouldn't wash them.

I always wash them . Why not ?
Im not going to sell dirty eggs

[Knight Family]

some people like to see the muck, means there fresh !!!

[garddwr]

But its not illegal to wash them if I wanted to sell them its not against food regulations or anything becuase you dont eat the shell

[orfy]

You are not allowed to wash, grade or classify them.

I.e you can't sort them into large medium or small.

you can also not sell them anywhere else.
Like in a shop or to a shop for resale or at a car boot stall or market.

[chookiepaula]

the reason for not washing is that if you wash them it means they were dirty and technically you should sell an egg that has been dirty.

Eggs shells are poroous meaning bacteria can pass into the shell then into the inside. If you do decide to wash them always use warm water never cold, warm draws bacteria away and cold encourages to go into the egg

[muntjac]

If you have less than 350 hens and all the eggs you produce are sold directly to individual
consumers at your farm gate or by door-to-door sales you will not need to register with the Egg
Marketing Inspectorate.
However, under separate legislation covering disease controls, if you have 50 or more birds
(other than wild birds) of any species you will need to register with the GBPR. For further
information use contact & link information under “Other relevant contact information” (page 17)
(b) If you sell some of your eggs at local public markets but have less than 50 hens then you will
not need to register with the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, but you will need to display your name
and address when selling your eggs in this manner.
You should also note the definition of local public market and door to door sales provided under
the section titled Definitions within England & Wales
5.

 more here

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20081718_en.pdf
 all eggs sold at the gate by folk like ourselves are class B  eggs and come under such rules. what size you call your eggs is up to you and charge accordingly

Is egg washing permitted?
EC egg marketing legislation does not permit Class 'A' eggs to be washed. These are the class of egg most commonly found at retail level, as Class 'A' is the highest quality of egg. Such eggs may not be washed because it is considered preferable to produce a clean, quality egg in the first place reflecting high production management. Class 'B' eggs and those intended for processing may be washed.

 hope this makes things clearer  

[garddwr]

Thanks muntjac so just to clarify I can was them if they are sold at the gate as lass B eggs.

Also what would I need to do if I was to sell them at a car boot sale ?

Thanks for your help

[kimT]

There is an article in the Smallholder magazine about selling eggs from your gate.

[compostqueen]

washing, or more to the point, not washing was covered here quite recently when I think the general consensus was not to wash

http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=21862&highlight=washing

Worth a read  

[woodburner]

Best not to put them in the fridge either. I will try and find the link but basically an egg cooled significantly below room temperature will attract condensation when brought back into the warmth. The condensation could then be drawn into the egg potentially taking bacteria with it.

Personally I'd rather a slightly mucky egg than a washed one, as a mucky one has still got the antimicrobial layer it was hatched with.