for something that provides an infinite reliable source of eggs without chickens, the recipe should be at least slightly harder than ONE egg?

how about:

FFF
eBe
eee

where F is the feathers, B is the backpack, and e is the eggs. The amount of feathers is unchanged, but this would mean it now requires 5 eggs instead of one, much more balanced in my opinion.

Requires 3 eggs after tweaks