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I talked to a farmer yesterday who said (at least in the US) it is bird flu. For some reason, the layers seem to have been hit harder than the boilers.
Genuine question. Does this mean that the average person can start a chicken farm today and earn massive profits? What is stopping an enterprising person from grabbing those profits?
possible the infrastructure won't be complete before prices go down. possible that prices will go down before you recoup the costs.
On the other hand, depending where you live and local rules, it is easy to have a few layer chickens for eggs. Having 4 or 5 chickens can mean 3 eggs a day which can keep you supplied. Costs would be a coop, food, water, and chicks. Layer feed where I live is 18 bucks for 50 lbs which can last for quite a while with that small number of chickens.
Massachusetts recently mandated cage-free eggs, which I assume adds some cost, not sure if that's a thing elsewhere.
Answer: Bird flu and inflation (less so). Although I suspect in short time we'll find out that the price hikes due to "bird flu" and "inflation" become... permanent.
Actually there’s more. On Jan 1st several more states laws about animal welfare went into effect whereas before essentially only California had those requirements. The supply of eggs meeting those requirements had not been ramped up to meet the step in demand. I expect that disruption will be temporary.
I talked to a farmer yesterday who said (at least in the US) it is bird flu. For some reason, the layers seem to have been hit harder than the boilers.
I was just in Vegas and the Flamingo didn't even have their birds out in display because of avian flu. The different bird species (including flamingos, natch) are all quarantined from each other somewhere else.
However she said they had chicken legs that were .49/lb which is a great price but hard to reconcile with the narrative that avian flu is the cause for the price increases. Why are broiler chicken cheap but eggs from layer hens not?
It would be nice to see more people allowed to keep backyard chickens (hens at least, since roosters can be noisy). Since getting some at our place I’ve been surprised how fun they are to have around and easy to care for. Our compost from the kitchen goes to them too, which could help people divert scraps from the landfill or from being picked up (big gas usage) for municipal composting. Their waste is also great fer…
But they're great for redundancy (more & varied egg supply reduces the impact of supply chain shocks), to get the best quality eggs you can, and because it's just fun & rewarding.
I'm curious how Costco is weathering the storm better than others. Typically Aldi is the cheapest place for me to buy eggs, but they're almost $5 a dozen for basic eggs. I've seen even more at other grocery stores (Publix was several dollars more a dozen). The cage free eggs were $7/2 dozen ($3.50/dozen) earlier this week at Costco. I'm in the Southeastern US in a suburb of a major city.
My wife has a cottage baking business and would buy 15 dozen eggs from Costco Business Center. Already high, a few months back in cost about $45 for the box. Just last week it was $110. She doesn't recall but it fairly certain the box was between $20-30 before inflation hit. However she said they had chicken legs that were .49/lb which is a great price but hard to reconcile with the narrative that avian flu is the ca…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually there’s more. On Jan 1st several more states laws about animal welfare went into effect whereas before essentially only California had those requirements. The supply of eggs meeting those requirements had not been ramped up to meet the step in demand. I expect that disruption will be temporary.
Yea this also. Colorado, one of the major state producers requires all chickens who produce eggs for sale to be cage free as of January 1st.