A fat Plymouth Rock chicken struts her stuff Tuesday at RMT Farms in Litchfield. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — With egg prices at near record highs, the cost and availability of them has a lot of people looking for alternatives or going without. As an outbreak of bird flu affects more and more egg producers, prices just keep rising.

A trip to Hannaford on Monday revealed eggs were available but the least expensive were $9.99 a dozen. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $3.64 in November 2024, rising to $4.14 in December 2024. You can pay as little as $4 a dozen at a local farm stand or from an individual who raises a few chickens.

At RMT Farms in Litchfield every animal is a rescue — even the chickens — and that is just one of the many reasons to consider buying your eggs from a local farmer.

Mike Robinson talks to one of his chickens Tuesday at RMT Farms in Litchfield. He operates a no-kill refuge for chickens who have been surrendered or rescued. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“We’re selling out every day, and generally most days we’re out by 2-2:30 p.m. We might have some eggs in the afternoon, it just depends on what the girls are laying,” farmer Mike Robinson said. He has been raising and selling his rescue chickens for about eight years and opened up a farm stand four years ago, which is open every day.

Robinson says with the onset of cold the hens lay fewer eggs but he is still collecting between 25-35 eggs a day, selling them for $4 a dozen, or $6 for 18. He used to sell them for $2.50 a dozen, but had to raise prices to buy egg cartons, so he’s asking customers to help keep prices low by bringing the cartons back.

“Our eggs are cheep cheep and our chickens lead the cluckin’ good life — truly free-range and happy as can be! No need to shell out more money elsewhere; our prices are as egg-cellent as our yolks!” That’s part of a cliché-filled social media post Robinson wrote Jan. 25 that caught lots of attention.

“We don’t believe that somebody buying eggs should have to break the bank to buy it,” Robinson told the Sun Journal on Tuesday. “Eggs are like milk. It’s a staple item. Everybody needs it. It’s used in pretty much everything … eggs should not be something that you’re getting rich off of.”

Free-range chickens at RMT Farms in Litchfield have unlimited access to the outdoors during the day, even in winter. Owner Mike Robinson, seen in the background, does not use artificial light beyond natural daylight, preferring to let the chickens lay eggs on their own schedule. Robinson keeps chickens for the length of their natural lives, and while egg production slows down, he finds that most chickens continue to lay throughout their lives. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

RMT Farms feeds all their livestock naturally — they hay their own fields and pick up discounted bread at the Country Kitchen outlet store in Lewiston.

“We’re not going to feed (the chickens) regular pellets of grain like some people do,” Robinson explained. “There’s too many chemicals, and the quality of grain nowadays isn’t what it should be.”

There are also no cages, no runs — the animals are free-range and share the barn with goats, ducks and whatever else is in the menagerie.

Ivy Peckhan of Hebron raises 125 chickens and plans to double her flock this summer. She donates chicken and duck eggs to Hope Haven, which runs shelters and a food pantry and Mr. Drew and His Animals Too. Submitted photo

Eleven-year-old Ivy Peckham is raising chickens on a larger scale at her family’s farm in Hebron. She started with 24 chicks just as the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Now in her third year of raising chickens, the young farmer sells 40-50 dozen eggs a week from her 125 hens to Paris Farmers Union in Lewiston.

Her father, Chad Fitzherbert, said in a phone interview Thursday that Ivy plans to double her brood this summer. She also sells hatchlings at $40 a dozen. The price for her eggs? A very reasonable $5 a dozen at Paris Farmer’s Union, netting her $1 a dozen, which goes into a savings account. She regularly donates eggs to Hope Haven Gospel Ministries, which runs two shelters and a food pantry, and she also donates eggs to Mr. Drew and His Animals Too.

Payton Veilleux is a typical small-scale chicken farmer, collecting between 15-25 eggs a day in the cold weather but has a farm stand at 130 Summer St. in Lisbon Falls. She sells her eggs for $5 a dozen the first time you buy from her and then $4 a dozen when you return the egg carton — a deposit of sorts to encourage customers to recycle to keep costs low.

Veilleux runs Darlin’ Farms, which is a small family farm with some pigs, dairy cows, chickens and ducks. Her main focus is her sourdough micro bakery which takes orders online or on the phone. She has a Facebook page you can also message her on or simply call her at 207-844-1575.

You don’t have to drive the back roads to get eggs. Commercial farm stands like Blackies Farm Fresh Produce in Auburn sells cage-free eggs at just under $6 a dozen. Owner Matt Manson sources his eggs here in Maine and has had to go to some “eggstra” lengths to secure his supply. He’s able to source loose eggs and have his crew package them in cartons to keep up with demand.

As people fret over the price of eggs there are some alternatives to consider like powdered eggs, duck eggs and turkey eggs — both of which are larger, have harder shells and a deeper, richer flavor profile.