i would like to formally introduce my 8 year old daughter’s new business:  e’s eggs.

we started our chicken adventure two years ago.  it has been a wonderful learning experience for the kids.  there have been some tough lessons about life, like the times when a hawk, our dog and a fox nabbed one of our chickens.  we have learned that free ranging is dangerous business!  i think we now have it figured out how to keep the chickens safe, but still give them plenty of free range time.  we are currently growing our flock with a new batch of baby chicks this spring!

eliza has also learned a lot about the benefit of free ranging and why paying twice the price for organic chicken feed is important.  this was a hard lesson because it is really difficult to pull that extra money out of her piggy bank to pay for organic feed.  we discussed organic farming practices and how they are better for the earth.  eliza is very much a nature lover and naturalist, so this made sense to her.  we also talked about the health benefits for the chickens and the people who eat the eggs.  she used this information to make the choice to go for organic even though it costs more.

she has also learned a lot about running a business!  eliza brainstormed business names and then we did a poll among family and on facebook.  my good friend, katie saunders who is a graphic designer, worked with us to create a logo, business cards and a label for her egg cartons.  eliza arranged to pay katie in eggs for her work.  : )  eliza did her own “styling” for her photoshoot and lucky for her she has a mom who was able to snap some pretty cute photos for her business promotional material.

eliza has her own bank account set up for her business.  she is saving up to buy a horse with this money.  right now i am splitting the operation costs (feed, new chicks, hay, etc) with her, but as we build her flock she will pay for all of her operating expenses.  we did “comps” with the prices of eggs in the supermarket, the farmer’s market and with her competitors (there are two other kids that sell eggs at eliza’s school) to come up with our price of $3.50 per dozen.  right now our flock is small so she only sells about 2 dozen a week, but in the fall she should be up to around 10 dozen a week.  that is a pretty good living for an 8 year old!

eliza saw this story on cbs news about a girl who raises about 15k per year with her chickens to help her family.  she was really inspired!  check it out.

oh, and did i mention how much she loves her chickens?  she has wonderful and creative names for all of them and really enjoys taking care of them.  so, if you want some happy chicken eggs buy e’s eggs!