I suppose that the extra acreage required to free range a large number of hens versus a small space packed with thousands of hens would raise production costs. A smaller operation with space shared with other animals or products would be more cost efficient but government regulations in many states prohibit the sale of eggs off the farm without expensive processing facilities that drive costs up.

Free-range, organic eggs are $7 at the Farmer's Market. The best I can do (with no room for chickens myself) is free-range from the supermarket for half the price. I'd love to get fresh eggs from the farmer's market--I'd be interested to hear from experienced folks about why the cost is so high!

The point of coating you eggs is to seal the pores. If the pores are sealed, it inhibits moisture loss as well as contaminants coming into the egg. I have used cooking oil when I've had to clean an egg I've gathered, just to add to the protection. It helps keep odors getting into the egg (For example, anyone eat a lot of fish?)

Also, Chris'EggFarm, not everyone has large families or eat many eggs in a single day. Even selling them isn't as quick as you'd wish. Some people use a dozen in a week or so, but others use them only in a month. Besides, if you have 12 hens, giving 84 eggs a week, it may be a good idea to know how to store them for when selling isn't an immediate option.

I'm personally looking where I'd seen an egg-sealing grease that I'd seen... only because there were other great products there, but I only remember the grease because it stated that you could keep eggs on your counter for 6 months and they'd be good. I personally would prefer to freeze mine if I needed to save eggs that long, but if you set up your coop right, you can still get eggs through the winter in my region.

In most countries I've lived ( and I mean western countries), eggs aren't even refrigerated in the grocery store and I've never heard of any issues. I think it is just Canada and the US which are obsessed about the need to refrigerate eggs.

I actually have chickens that I raise and the eggs are wonderful, they always come out so perfect and even have double yokers a lot of the time. I even have enouph to sell and the people love that they can come and buy farm fresh brown eggs. I did not know that if you turned them once a day that it would help and also did not know you shouldn't wash them until you are ready to eat them so they stay fresh longer. Thanks for the info, I am new to all of this so any information is great.

Why bother buying FRESH free-range eggs if you intend to store
them? Instead just buy the amount of eggs you would normally use in
a week then, if you run out, go and purchase more. The whole idea
behind buying fresh, free-range eggs is in order to truly benefit
from eating FRESH FOOD. Most superarket eggs are several days -
even weeks -old by the time you purchase them. Eggs that come from
a corporation warehouse are so chock full of chemicals can
literally sit around a suermarket storage area for months at a time
(and often they do)...the vast array of chemicals inside that egg
can preserve it for several months! The reason you generally see
only white eggs on a supermarket shelf is because the big producers
know that whiter chickens (as in leghorns) produce a greater number
of eggs that its brown relatives (even though the difference may
only be a couple of hours you multiply that by millions of birds
and it soon hurts their bottom line). Conclusion....purchase eggs
that are free-range. Support your local farmers Market!

Murray McMurray says that eggs should be stored pointed end
down.

Sailors coat eggs with vaseline not wax. I have tried it several
times and it does not work very well. More important is that you
should turn your eggs at least once every four days otherwise the
yolk sinks to the bottom and the egg spoils. But best of all is get
fresh eggs. Once you have tried real fresh eggs will not look
back.

A trick that boaters use is to coat the eggs with wax. Then they
will stay fresh longer without refridgeration.

I have taken organic eggs on sailboat trips of up to one month,
in the Bahamas int the summer, without any refrigeration for the
eggs. All I do is turn them over about once a day or so. Every once
in a while a yolk will come out broken, but other than not looking
perfect, they were fine. When an egg is bad, you will know
it.