In August 2019, Mya and her grandpa came up with a plan to sell the eggs that the hens on the ranch where they live were producing.
This sparked her to create her own company: Mya B.’s Egg Company. For short, she calls it “What’s Crackin’ Egg Co.”
Bootstrapping
Mya began by using her Tooth Fairy money to buy blank egg cartons. She then spent time painting and decorating them. Mya purchased an order booklet and helped her mom create a Facebook page to find her first egg customers.
Within the week, she had a full customer schedule and started collecting those eggs for her clients. She phoned each new customer on her own, asking how many eggs they’d like per week. She inquired if they would they like to purchase on a one-time buy or a monthly plan.
Deliveries took place on Wednesday.
Read more: Here are some tips for keeping your egg business alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Customer Care
Mya B.’s Egg Company found a lot of support from her new customers. One created vinyl-label egg carton stickers.
Her grandma began sewing bags to deliver the eggs in. (It helped with keeping them from being accidentally dropped.) The eggs sold out each and every week.
Mya spent her egg money on special treats for the chickens and took them fresh produce each day. She created informational videos about eggs that she shared on her Facebook page.
Rising Above Tragedy
Unfortunately, at the end of October, a grizzly bear damaged the coop and her flock. This was a difficult time for Mya. But she was resilient and spent the winter planning to rebuild her company from the ground up.
After receiving Chickens magazine from her grandma, Mya researched the different breeds of chickens so she could restock her flock. She studied all of the different products that would help keep her hens happy and healthy.
In March, Mya had her 8th birthday, and she got her most-wanted items:
- a chicken harness for walking her birds
- two swings for her coop (one inside and one outside)
- a rollaway nesting box
- treat holders
- a few feed items
Her new Plymouth Rock chicks arrived on March 31. Mya chose them because of their docile and friendly nature.
She repainted and revamped the old petting zoo barn at the ranch and created a beautiful coop for her hens. One of the new features she added was chicken dust, after reading an article in Chickens about feather health.
She decided it would be a good idea to dig in a tire and fill it with dust for her birds.
She has a ladder-style roosting bar that her dad built, and she spends hours each day with her birds, holding them, giving them treats and making sure they have everything they need!
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2020 issue of Chickens magazine.
