Explained by greed pretty easily.
The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#22We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.
I would be interested in a breakdown of your savings vs. your expenses and labor time on chicken raising. I just ran a very generous estimate and I would shocked if your savings at peak egg price are more than $4 per labor hour. To get to that number I assumed $5 per dozen at the grocery store, five chickens at your house, an enormous production and consumption of eggs, very cheap overhead, and only thirty minutes a…
You're grossly overestimating the time it takes to raise hens.
I also don't think anyone is doing it because they think they can compete on prices with an industrial farm that keeps all of the hens locked up in a 2x2 foot battery cage their entire lives.
My hens are happy, they forage for bugs all day long (creating those delicious, dark-yellow yolks high in omega-3s), and gladly consume all of my excess food waste which would otherwise go into a landfill.
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#23We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.
But if you keep chickens, be sure to harden against rats. In my town, they're considering making it illegal to keep chickens because people are careless about chicken feed. All the additional easy-to-access food has caused the rat population to explode into a real problem.
We have a metal feeder that the hens have been trained to stand on to open.
We're also experimenting with fermenting their feed, which should stretch it about 20% further. For that I dump a cup of it out in the morning, so no issue with rats.
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#24We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.
I raise a small flock as well. I always joke that my eggs cost about $100/dozen. With the number of raccoons, foxes and hawks roaming near my property, I've had to invest a couple thousand of dollars in electric fencing, hawk netting and coop materials like hardware cloth or my chickens would quickly disappear.
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#25We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.
I would be interested in a breakdown of your savings vs. your expenses and labor time on chicken raising. I just ran a very generous estimate and I would shocked if your savings at peak egg price are more than $4 per labor hour. To get to that number I assumed $5 per dozen at the grocery store, five chickens at your house, an enormous production and consumption of eggs, very cheap overhead, and only thirty minutes a…
I only have 7 chickens and 3 ducks. I open the coop in the morning, takes 1-2 minutes. I collect eggs in the evening and close up coop, takes 2-3 minutes. Maybe add another 5 minutes for changing water or throwing some hay in coop. That’s a typical day, in the winter in the Midwest. Easier in summer and spring. Space wise, really don’t need much at all. A small backyard can support them easily.
Also, great sense of sastifaction, great job for my kids, and I like being just a tiny bit more self reliant.
I’m comfortable investing this amount of time, not sure I could use it more productively. Obviously this equation will be different for different folks but my point is barrier to entry is very low. It’s why poor people in Latin America grow chickens, easy and cheap to do and gets you eggs and meat.
Guess I’m reminded of a Simpson episode where the old grandpa is complaining someone stole his limited time from him and then says “never mind, I wasn’t going to do anything else with it anyways.”
Edit: I was reminded below of another benefit. They control pests and eat ticks.
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#26—- 36 eggs still 6,400won! —-
It's like $9 for a dozen eggs at Target in the bay area now. You can still get a good deal at Costco, but yeah, it's super expensive. What's the normal price of eggs in Korea?
I'm in the central valley and Target has a dozen eggs for $3.59. I was curious how it could be so much more in the bay area, but looking up an East Bay Target they're $3.59. San Francisco is $4.59. Maybe you haven't been in a while?
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's like $9 for a dozen eggs at Target in the bay area now. You can still get a good deal at Costco, but yeah, it's super expensive. What's the normal price of eggs in Korea?
I'm in the central valley and Target has a dozen eggs for $3.59. I was curious how it could be so much more in the bay area, but looking up an East Bay Target they're $3.59. San Francisco is $4.59. Maybe you haven't been in a while?
Wow, now you are making me want to drive around and double check! Distinctly remember seeing a dozen eggs for at least 8 if not $9 at target in alameda a month or two ago. Am sure all the cheaper store brand eggs had sold out and was probably looking at free range eggs. And the price could have come down since then too. And everything's expensive in alameda. Glad to hear it!
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#28This article has no analysis, insight, or data. It has a few singular datums, but doesn't establish any relations or context. Unless I missed it in a one page article. This is just click-bait without the annoying pop-ups.
They just mention the two biggest economic factors (bird flu and inflation) as an aside and then never address it again. What a joke.
The Economist has a slant to be sure, but its usually higher quality than this. Sounds like there's a deeper motive to this article.
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#29"I don't understand why you buy eggs at seven cents a piece in Malta and sell them for five cents."
"I do it to make a profit."
"But how can you make a profit? You lose two cents an egg."
"But I make a profit of three and a quarter cents an egg by selling them at four and a quarter cents an egg to the people in Malta I buy them from for seven cents an egg. Of course, I don't make the profit. The syndicate makes the profit. And everybody has a share."
Yossarian felt he was beginning to understand. "And the people you sell the eggs to at four and a quarter cents a piece make a profit of two and three quarter cents a piece when they sell them back to you at seven cents a piece. Is that right? Why don't you sell the eggs directly to you and eliminate the people you buy them from?"
"Because I am the people I buy them from," Milo explained. "I make a profit of three and a quarter cents a piece when I sell them to me and a profit of two and three quarter cents apiece when I buy them back from me. That's a total profit of six cents an egg. I lose only two cents an egg when I sell them to the mess halls at five cents apiece, and that's how I can make a profit buying eggs for seven cents apiece and selling them for five cents apiece. I pay only one cent a piece at the hen when I buy them in Sicily."
"In Malta," Yossarian corrected. "You buy your eggs in Malta, not Sicily."
Milo chortled proudly. "I don't buy eggs from Malta," he confessed... "I buy them in Sicily at one cent apiece and transfer them to Malta secretly at four and a half cents apiece in order to get the price of eggs up to seven cents when people come to Malta looking for them."
Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone
#30Amazingly, this morning I found eggs at the local grocery for $1.99 (CAD) a dozen.