The Shocking Number Of Eggs Martha Stewart's Chickens Lay Every Year

It'd be an understatement to say that Martha Stewart wears a lot of hats. She's a media mogul, restaurateur, cookbook author, and occasional Snoop Dogg collaborator, with a diverse resume that would likely challenge even the most ambitious multitasker. However, small-scale egg farmer may be one of her most unexpected roles, and it's all thanks to a flock of surprisingly productive hens living at her Bedford, New York estate.

In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, the lifestyle guru talked about raising her own chickens while discussing her Las Vegas restaurant, The Bedford by Martha Stewart, which is modeled after her own home. When asked about potential egg dishes, she ended up mentioning that her own hens collectively lay "between 60 and 100 eggs a day," meaning an estimated 31,500 eggs have been laid in her backyard.

"I was trying to think how much they could retail for, and it comes out to about $10,000 worth of eggs," she said. Even so, Stewart noted that it costs far more than that to feed backyard poultry, calling it "a very, very inefficient way to get your eggs." However, it's still worth it in her opinion, as her eggs are apparently "the best eggs that you'll have ever eaten."

According to a blog post from her website, Martha Stewart has more than 200 chickens of varying breeds at her farm. They're housed in four coops with nesting boxes stuffed with fresh wood shavings, which makes for a comfortable place to lay eggs. Her hens also have the ability to roam outside in several large areas that have winter access to her vegetable gardens, which are covered and fenced off to protect the birds from predators.

Having comfortable chickens is another thing she prioritizes, providing them with electric heaters and regularly refilled water sources, in addition to feeders full of organic, nutrient-fortified pellets, wheatgrass, and produce scraps. And seeing as how happy chickens produce more eggs, it's easy to see why Stewart's flock is laying a staggering amount.

Stewart's numbers are particularly impressive as a backyard operation. After all, a United Egg Producers report showed that commercial farms produced a daily average of 82.5 eggs per 100 hens in 2024, with each hen laying about 301 eggs per year. But if we're going to be honest, what's better than fresh eggs from someone's backyard (or getting as close to that as you can with some pasture-raised eggs)? And that's especially true when you have the option of using one of Stewart's many kitchen tricks, like making incredible scrambled eggs in your cappuccino machine.