I know this post is a bit older, but I stumbled across it in Google & wanted to weigh in as a consumer of small-farm eggs. I happily pay $2.50/doz to an area family who has a flock of about 20 hens that they raise naturally/organically (just no certification, but I've seen their setup & it's impressive), and I drive at least 25 miles round-trip to do it too. I think they could safely wiggle up another .25-.50 if they needed to cover their costs, but then past that I might look elsewhere (gas is expensive; I just like them a lot & their eggs are to die for). A fair price is a fair price, and with organic eggs in the store STARTING at $4/doz (and not being even remotely as palatable), I think anything under that is fair. I guess what I want to say most is that I hope new chicken-keeping folks decide to stand up for themselves when it comes to their eggs; decent people will realize it's worth it & keep coming back, and the people who are looking for cheap ones/a handout can go back to the nasty, factory-farmed ones you can get in the store for $1/doz. You deserve to be rewarded for all your hard work and dedication to keeping healthy chickens.

We have had eggs with shells that look like brains (always in the blue/green category). We have had eggs from our Cuckoo Marans (chocolate brown eggs) that the dark brown part looked like it was sprayed on and even had scratches on it so that the lighter color could be seen. Polishing these eggs with a soft cloth and baking soda completely removed the dark brown. Normally the dark brown is permanent but on occasion it scratches off. We have had several eggs with smaller eggs inside (also always the blue /green variety). We get light brown eggs that look like they were cut across the waist and then glued back together with nice thick egg shell....always a nice lump all the way around the middle. One hen always lays eggs that are sharply pointed on both ends..(white egg)

Donna, The year my Blues laid three clutches, the first egg was laid on 4/6/10. Last year they laid their first egg 4/9/11, but only had two clutches. This year the first egg was laid 3/25/12. I will let you know if they have two clutches or three this year. But the other two years weren't that different, so I'm not sure what made them lay a third clutch. I was worried the babies from the third clutch wouldn't be feathered up before winter. I hope you get three if the weather holds. It is pretty cool to have three successful clutches.

Kendra, the ducks are fairly shy and will leave the backyard if we go towards the pond. When the females starts to sit, she stays in the box, even if we mow the lawn right at the box, but if you open the door to her box, she will be off and not come back for several hours or more. We have two boxes, but a starling has scared them by sitting in the door to one of the boxes, so all three females that are laying are putting their eggs into one box. I think I have scared off the starling, but it will take awhile for them to try that box again. There was one egg in that box and I transferred it to the other box. Now we have twelve eggs in that box and none in the other box. We have put a camera in each box. So far the females have gone in and left before another enters the box but in past years we have seen some nasty fight when two females both get into the box at one time. Here is video taken in 2010--It was Fathers day. In this video you may see that one duck does not make it. He finally jumped after about 20 min. Mom was still waiting for him. Here is a link that might be useful: video 2010