Can you sell backyard eggs in Wales?
Yes. Sell your own ungraded eggs to consumers at the farm gate, door to door or at a public market within 80 km; with up to 50 hens no egg stamp is needed at market. Register your birds. Shops need Class A eggs.
Read from 9 official sources31 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
Not stated
In plain English
Wales follows the same rules as England, enforced by APHA's Egg Marketing Inspectorate from its Caernarfon office. There is 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 (a public market within 80 km of the production site), and the egg marketing rules then do not apply, apart from stamping at markets. Door-to-door and market sales may reach anywhere in Wales plus 80 km around the farm. With up to 50 laying hens no producer code is needed on eggs sold at a market if your name and address are shown; gov.uk also asks for a best-before date (up to 28 days from lay) and 'keep chilled' advice. Register your production site with APHA at 350 or more hens, or 50 or more hens selling at a market. Since 2024 every bird keeper in Wales must register their birds, whatever the flock size. Shops, caterers and restaurants can only take Class A eggs from a registered packing centre.
A sourced reading of Wales's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) (0300 303 8268) before you sell.
Do you need a licence?
- 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.SI 2010/1671 reg. 8(2)(a)
- Region of production: the area within 80 kilometres of the production site plus any part of Wales outside that radius.SI 2010/1671 reg. 2
- Door-to-door selling means a sale made during an unsolicited visit by the producer to the consumer's home, another person's home, or the consumer's place of work.SI 2010/1671 reg. 2
- Local public market sales are also outside the rules except stamping: a public market within an 80 kilometre radius of the production site; a temporary market counts if it has at least five stalls and any notice under s. 37(2) Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 was given.SI 2010/1671 regs. 2, 8(2)(b)
- At a local public market, a producer with up to 50 laying hens need not stamp the producer code if their name and address are shown at the point of sale.SI 2010/1671 reg. 11(2)
- gov.uk guidance: at markets also display the best before date (maximum 28 days from lay) and advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase; some markets require stamping anyway.gov.uk Egg marketing standards
- Register the production site with APHA if you have 350 or more hens, have 50 or more hens and sell ungraded eggs at a local public market, or send eggs to a packing centre.gov.uk Egg marketing standards; form EMR02b
- Register your birds within one month of keeping them, whatever the number.Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) Regulations 2006 reg. 7, substituted by SI 2024/795 reg. 3; gov.uk
- Shops, catering outlets and restaurants need Class A eggs graded at an APHA-registered egg packing centre.gov.uk Egg marketing standards
- Salmonella testing is not required with fewer than 350 hens supplying directly to the consumer or through local retailers.gov.uk Egg marketing standards
The exact wording
Where you can sell
From home or the farm
Ungraded eggs sold by the producer directly to final consumers on the production site are outside the egg marketing rules (SI 2010/1671 reg. 8(2)(a)); no APHA egg-site registration under 350 hens. Your birds must be registered.
Farmers markets
Allowed at a 'local public market' (a public market within 80 km of the production site). Up to 50 laying hens: no stamp if your name and address are shown (reg. 11(2)); 50 or more hens: register with APHA and stamp the producer code. gov.uk also asks for a best-before date and 'keep chilled' advice. Some markets require stamping.
Stores and restaurants
Shops, catering outlets and restaurants need Class A eggs graded at an APHA-registered egg packing centre, which also needs local authority approval as a food business.
Also check with: Your local council's environmental health team (food business registration and market rules)
Cartons, labels and handling
Cartons
The sources we read don't set a carton rule.
Refrigeration
“Whilst eggs should not be chilled during marketing, to minimise risk to quality and safety that may arise due to temperature variations, eggs should be kept chilled once purchased by the final consumer to maximise quality.”
The label must show
- your name and address at the point of sale (market sales, up to 50 hens)
- best-before date, max 28 days from lay (market sales, gov.uk guidance)
- advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase (market sales, gov.uk guidance)
- 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 (SI 2010/1671 reg. 8(2)); eggs for shops and caterers must be Class A from a packing centre.
Washing
Graded Class A eggs may not be washed: 'Class A eggs shall not be washed or cleaned, before or after grading (no exceptions apply in the UK).' No washing rule for ungraded eggs sold direct was found.
UK-wide rules apply on top of Wales's: the UK-wide egg rules. Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.
What changed recently
- 2024-10-01 · Bird registration became compulsory for every keeper in Wales, not just keepers of 50 or more: the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (in force 1 September 2024) rewrote reg. 7 of the 2006 Regulations; existing keepers had to notify on or before 1 October 2024. Source
Common questions
- Do I need a licence to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Wales?
- Yes. Sell your own ungraded eggs to consumers at the farm gate, door to door or at a public market within 80 km; with up to 50 hens no egg stamp is needed at market. Register your birds. Shops need Class A 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 Wales?
- Allowed with conditions. Allowed at a 'local public market' (a public market within 80 km of the production site). Up to 50 laying hens: no stamp if your name and address are shown (reg. 11(2)); 50 or more hens: register with APHA and stamp the producer code. gov.uk also asks for a best-before date and 'keep chilled' advice. Some markets require stamping. Also check with your local council's environmental health team (food business registration and market rules).
- Can I reuse egg cartons in Wales?
- The sources we read do not say; ask Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
- What has to be on the carton label in Wales?
- your name and address at the point of sale (market sales, up to 50 hens), best-before date, max 28 days from lay (market sales, gov.uk guidance), advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase (market sales, gov.uk guidance), no quality or weight grading terms. The rule reads: "To sell your eggs at local public markets you must still display: your name your address the best before date (maximum of 28 days from date of lay) advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase"
- Do eggs I sell in Wales have to be kept cold?
- The rule reads: "Whilst eggs should not be chilled during marketing, to minimise risk to quality and safety that may arise due to temperature variations, eggs should be kept chilled once purchased by the final consumer to maximise quality."
- Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · Definitions (door-to-door selling, local public market within 80 km, region of production = 80 km plus all of Wales); direct-sales exemption; no stamp at market for up to 50 laying hens
- Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII Part VI (assimilated law) · Egg marketing standards the Wales regulations enforce: exemption (point I(2)) and marking (point III)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 (assimilated law) · Detailed rules: only packing centres grade; Class A quality, marking and best-before
- Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) Regulations 2006, reg. 7, as substituted by the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/795 (W. 125), reg. 3 · Every keeper of poultry or other captive birds must register; extra details at 50 or more birds
- Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Art. 1 (assimilated law) · Food hygiene scope: excludes direct supply of small quantities of primary products
- Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · Egg marketing standards (England and Wales)
Read the 31 passages this page is built on
“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; or”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“except insofar as it relates to the requirement imposed by point III(3) of … where the eggs are sold, without any quality or weight grading, directly to the final consumer by the producer in a local public market in the region of production.”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“does not apply in the case of a producer with up to 50 laying hens if the name and address of the producer are indicated at the point of sale.”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“means a sale which is made during an unsolicited visit by a producer to the final consumer's home, or to the home of another person, or to the final consumer's place of work;”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“a public market that is within an 80 kilometre radius of the boundary of the production site; or”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“the area within a 80 kilometre radius of the boundary of the production site; and … any part of Wales that is outside that 80 kilometre radius;”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“comprising of a concourse of buyers and sellers of articles held otherwise than in a building or on a highway, with not less than five stalls … for which any notice required under section 37(2) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“They apply in relation to Wales. … There are currently no known outstanding effects for The Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010.”
Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/1671 (W. 158), regs. 2, 8(2), 11(2) · read 2026-10-07
“A person who keeps poultry or other captive birds at any premises must notify the Welsh Ministers in writing of the following information in relation to the premises”
“made in writing on or before 1 October 2024; and”
“These Regulations come into force on 1 September 2024.”
legislation.gov.uk · read 2026-10-07
“You must register within one month of keeping poultry or other captive birds at any premises in England or Wales. … You’re breaking the law if you do not register.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“You must register your premises with APHA if you: send any of your eggs for grading at a registered egg packing centre have 50 or more hens and you sell ungraded eggs at a local public market have 350 or more hens”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“To sell eggs to shops, catering outlets or restaurants you must also register your premises as an egg packing centre. Only egg packing centres can grade eggs. The eggs must be graded as Class A for retail and catering.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“You do not need to stamp your eggs with a producer code if you: sell your eggs directly to consumers - for their own use - from your own farm or door to door in your local area have fewer than 50 birds and you sell at a local public market”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“To sell your eggs at local public markets you must still display: your name your address the best before date (maximum of 28 days from date of lay) advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Some markets have their own rule that you must stamp the producer code on hen eggs.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“You do not have to comply with NCP testing if either: all the eggs you produce are for private domestic use you have fewer than 350 hens and you supply directly to the consumer or through local retailers”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Last updated: 12 December 2023 … Applies to England and Wales”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“APHA EMIs inspect all premises in England and Wales where hen eggs are produced, graded, packed, imported and sold in any way.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“This form is for premises to apply for registration as an egg production establishment. This applies to premises which: have 350 or more hens have 50 or more hens and any of the eggs are marketed at local public markets produce eggs and any of these are then marketed to registered packing centres”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“If you have less than 350 hens and all the eggs you produce are sold directly to individual consumers at your farm gate or by door-to-door sales, you will not need to register with an APHA EMI.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“If you sell some of your eggs at local public markets but have less than 50 hens then you will not need to register with an APHA EMI, but you will need to display labelling required under Food Information Regulations (name of the food, your name and address, best before date and advice to consumers to keep eggs chilled)”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“If you sell your eggs, for example to shops, restaurants or bakeries, they must first be graded as Class A and therefore you must also be approved and authorised as a packing centre.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Eggs must be kept clean, dry and out of direct sunshine at all times.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Class A eggs shall not be washed or cleaned, before or after grading (no exceptions apply in the UK).”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Whilst eggs should not be chilled during marketing, to minimise risk to quality and safety that may arise due to temperature variations, eggs should be kept chilled once purchased by the final consumer to maximise quality.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“If your premises is in Wales, your Administrative Centre is: Egg Marketing APHA Penrallt Offices Caernarfon … Telephone: 0300 303 8268”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“Similar principles are expected to be applied across Wales EMIs.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
“This Regulation shall not apply to: … the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer;”
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Art. 1 (assimilated law) · read 2026-10-07
“If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with your local authority. … You are required to register at least 28 days before trading.”
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Egg Marketing Inspectorate (Wales office, Caernarfon) · read 2026-10-07
What we couldn't confirm
- No Welsh Government (gov.wales) page on selling eggs was found; Wales relies on the joint England-and-Wales gov.uk guidance and APHA's EMR01. gov.wales search returned no results to a script.
- Exactly 50 hens is unclear: reg. 11(2) exempts market sellers with 'up to 50 laying hens' from stamping, but gov.uk says register at '50 or more hens' and stamp with 'over 50 hens', no stamp with 'fewer than 50 birds'.
- APHA EMR01 gives no Wales definitions of its own ('Similar principles are expected to be applied across Wales EMIs'), and its England definitions (60 miles, European election region) do not match the Wales regulations (80 kilometre radius; all of Wales). The record follows the regulations.
- The gov.uk Egg marketing standards page (last updated 12 December 2023) still says keepers of fewer than 50 birds 'should' register; the 2024 Wales Regulations make it compulsory.
- Door-to-door selling is defined as a sale during an 'unsolicited visit'; whether pre-ordered deliveries, honesty boxes away from the farm, or online orders fit is not addressed in the sources read.
- Food business registration: no FSA guidance specific to small egg sellers was found; retained Regulation 852/2004 art. 1(2)(c) excludes direct supply of small quantities of primary products from the hygiene regulation. Check with the local council.
- The best-before and 'keep chilled' display at markets comes from gov.uk and EMR01 guidance; reg. 11(2) itself only requires name and address. The Food Information (Wales) Regulations 2014 were not read.
- The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations 2004 (the 350-hen registration duty) were not read directly.
- No rule on reusing cartons for ungraded eggs sold direct was found.
Elsewhere in the United Kingdom
- EnglandNo cap; up to 50 hens at marketsRegistration
- Northern IrelandNo cap; up to 50 hens at marketsRegistration
- ScotlandNo cap; up to 50 hens at marketsRegistration
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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