Country rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Scotland?

Yes. Sell your own ungraded eggs to consumers at the farm gate, door to door or at a local public market; with no more than 50 hens no egg stamp is needed at market. Register your birds first. Shops need graded eggs.

Read from 8 official sources24 passages quotedChecked October 7, 2026

At a glance

Licence

Registration

Small-flock line

No cap; up to 50 hens at markets

Farmers markets

With conditions

Cartons

Reuse with conditions

In plain English

Scotland has no licence to sell eggs. A producer may sell their own hens' eggs ungraded, straight to the final consumer, on the production site, door to door, or at a local public market, and the egg marketing rules then do not apply, apart from stamping at markets. A producer with no more than 50 laying hens need not stamp eggs sold at a market if their name and address are shown at the point of sale; above 50 hens, eggs sold at a market carry a producer code from the Scottish Government Poultry Unit. The Poultry Unit's guidance says producers with more than 350 laying hens must register however they sell. Since 1 September 2024 every bird keeper must register on the Scottish Kept Bird Register, whatever the flock size. Food Standards Scotland says all food businesses, including those that produce or sell food, register with their council's environmental health service 28 days before opening. Shops, cafés and restaurants can only be supplied with eggs graded at a packing centre.

A sourced reading of Scotland's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Scottish Government Poultry Unit (Rural Payments and Inspections Division) before you sell.

Do you need a licence?

Registration requiredNo cap; up to 50 hens at markets
  • Eggs sold without any quality or weight grading, directly to the final consumer by the producer, on the production site or by door to door selling in the region of production.SSI 2008/395 reg. 3(2)(b)
  • The eggs must be from the producer's own hens.Scottish Government guidance EMR1, s. 1.3
  • Door to door selling means a sale made during an unsolicited visit by the producer to the final consumer's home, another person's home, or the consumer's place of work.SSI 2008/395 reg. 3(3)
  • Sales in a local public market in the region of production are also outside the rules except stamping.SSI 2008/395 reg. 3(2)(c)
  • At a market, a producer with no more than 50 laying hens need not stamp the producer code if their name and address are shown at the point of sale; with more than 50 hens, eggs for a market are stamped with a producer code.SSI 2008/395 reg. 9(2); EMR1 s. 1.3
  • No quality or weight grading terms may be used on exempt eggs.Reg. 1308/2013 Annex VII Part VI point I(2)
  • Producers with more than 350 laying hens must register with the Scottish Government Poultry Unit however the eggs are sold.EMR1 s. 1.3
  • Register your birds on the Scottish Kept Bird Register, even a single bird.Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007 art. 5, substituted by SSI 2024/87; gov.scot
  • Food business registration with the local authority's environmental health service at least 28 days before opening applies to all food businesses, including those that produce or sell food.Food Standards Scotland
  • Only packing centres grade and pack eggs; packing centres also need local authority approval as food businesses.Reg. 589/2008 art. 5(1); EMR1 s. 2.2
The exact wording
“where the eggs are sold, without any quality or weight grading, directly to the final consumer by the producer– … on the production site; or … by door to door selling in the region of production … shall not apply where a producer has no more than 50 laying hens if the name and address of the producer are indicated at the point of sale.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

Ungraded eggs from your own hens sold directly to final consumers on the production site are outside the egg marketing rules (SSI 2008/395 reg. 3(2)(b)). Register your birds on the Scottish Kept Bird Register; check with your council about food business registration.

Farmers markets

With conditions

Allowed at a local public market. No more than 50 laying hens: no stamp if your name and address are shown at the point of sale (reg. 9(2)); more than 50: stamp a producer code from the Scottish Government Poultry Unit. The Scottish regulations do not define 'local public market'.

Stores and restaurants

Licence needed

The exemption covers only sales to the final consumer. Eggs for shops, cafés and restaurants must be graded and packed at a registered packing centre, which also needs local authority approval as a food business.

Also check with: Your local council's environmental health service (food business registration)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

Reused cartons are allowed, with conditions.

“Packs, boxes or keyes trays may be re-used provided they are clean and in good condition, and that they do not show old markings which may confuse or mislead the purchaser.”

Refrigeration

“During storage at the producers premises and during transport eggs must be kept in clean, dry places, free form extraneous odours and effectively protected from shocks and from the effects of light and excessive fluctuations in temperature.”

The label must show

  • your name and address at the point of sale (market sales, 50 hens or fewer)
  • producer code stamped on eggs at market above 50 hens
  • no quality or weight grading terms

Grading

Ungraded sales are allowed only in some cases.

Ungraded eggs are allowed only when sold 'without any quality or weight grading, directly to the final consumer by the producer' on the production site, door to door, or at a local public market (SSI 2008/395 reg. 3(2)); everything else goes through a packing centre.

Washing

Scottish Government guidance lists for Grade A eggs: 'Cleaning / washing: not permitted'. No washing rule for ungraded eggs sold direct was found.

UK-wide rules apply on top of Scotland's: the UK-wide egg rules. Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.

What changed recently

  1. 2024-09-01 · The Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 cut the bird-registration threshold from 50 birds to one; every keeper now registers on the Scottish Kept Bird Register, which replaced the GB Poultry Register in Scotland. Source

Common questions

Do I need a licence to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Scotland?
Yes. Sell your own ungraded eggs to consumers at the farm gate, door to door or at a local public market; with no more than 50 hens no egg stamp is needed at market. Register your birds first. Shops need graded eggs. Small-flock line: no cap; up to 50 hens at markets. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Scotland?
Allowed with conditions. Allowed at a local public market. No more than 50 laying hens: no stamp if your name and address are shown at the point of sale (reg. 9(2)); more than 50: stamp a producer code from the Scottish Government Poultry Unit. The Scottish regulations do not define 'local public market'. Also check with your local council's environmental health service (food business registration).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Scotland?
With conditions. The rule reads: "Packs, boxes or keyes trays may be re-used provided they are clean and in good condition, and that they do not show old markings which may confuse or mislead the purchaser."
What has to be on the carton label in Scotland?
your name and address at the point of sale (market sales, 50 hens or fewer), producer code stamped on eggs at market above 50 hens, no quality or weight grading terms. The rule reads: "if the name and address of the producer are indicated at the point of sale."
Do eggs I sell in Scotland have to be kept cold?
The rule reads: "During storage at the producers premises and during transport eggs must be kept in clean, dry places, free form extraneous odours and effectively protected from shocks and from the effects of light and excessive fluctuations in temperature."
Sources
Read the 24 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • The Scottish regulations do not define 'local public market' or 'region of production' (England and Wales use an 80 kilometre radius); no Scottish definition was found.
  • The Scottish Government's egg marketing guidance EMR1 is dated 16 March 2016 and says producers with 'more than 350' laying hens must register; England's guidance says '350 or more'. The Registration of Establishments Keeping Laying Hens (Scotland) Regulations 2003 were not read to settle it.
  • Food business registration: Food Standards Scotland says all food businesses, including those that produce or sell food, must register with their council, while retained Regulation 852/2004 art. 1(2)(c) puts direct supply of small quantities of primary products outside the hygiene regulation. Whether a small egg seller must register is for the council to say.
  • A non-government Scottish small-producers website says market egg sellers must register with the Poultry Unit and stamp eggs; that conflicts with reg. 9(2) (no stamp with no more than 50 hens). Not used.
  • Scottish sources read do not say whether small market sellers must show a best-before date or 'keep chilled' advice (England's guidance asks for both); EMR1's 28-day best-before and 21-day delivery limits are in the packed-egg section.
  • The pack-reuse quote comes from EMR1's packing-centre guidance; no carton rule specific to ungraded direct sales was found.
  • No phone number for the Scottish Government Poultry Unit was found on an official page; the EMR1 contacts page was not fetched.
  • Door to door selling is defined as a sale during an 'unsolicited visit'; pre-ordered deliveries, honesty boxes away from the farm and online orders are not addressed.

Elsewhere in the United Kingdom

SCTNIRENGWLS
No licence for small salesDepends how you sellRegistration or licenceNot stated or not checked

All of the United Kingdom

Coloured by the small-flock licence rule, with the rules that apply everywhere in the United Kingdom.

UK overview →

Legal where you live? Then keep the books.

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