Egg Prices

[aaronatthedoublef]

My last eggs were $6.99 for two dozen at Costco. What's interesting here is that eggs have gone up but not chicken. Can farmers sell chicken they killed to prevent the spread of bird flu?

[RiversideLen]

Interesting question, Aaron. I googled it but didn't find any information, maybe I didn't look far enough. The egg laying hens are a different breed from the hens raised for meat. They are smaller and are more prolific at egg production whereas the meat hens are fast growth.

The egg layers are about 2 years old (sometimes older) when they are "retired" and tough by then. There's a farmer on youtube, Just a few acres farm, who will sell his retired egg layers but makes it clear that they require a long, slow cooking method to make them tender. You never find the old egg laying hens in the grocery store, so I wonder what happens to them. Maybe they're used for canned soup and pet food.

[BakerAunt]

I bought eggs at the local grocery today: 1 dozen for $5.99. After the 10% senior discount on Tuesdays, that was $5.40.

In response to Len's thoughts about chicken prices, I've noticed that they have been higher the past couple of weeks.

My understanding is that chickens, ducks, etc. killed for bird flu cannot be sold for food but must be destroyed.

[Mike Nolan]

Our local paper has story about thieves stealing hundreds of eggs from a cafe in Seattle, complete with video of a white panel van pulling up, two people bringing out several stacks of egg crates in several trips, getting back into the van and pulling away.

I keep thinking of the Monty Python segment: Your Lupins or your Life!

[Mike Nolan]

You never find the old egg laying hens in the grocery store, so I wonder what happens to them. Maybe they're used for canned soup and pet food.

Considering how little chicken meat there is in a bowl of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, that chicken must be going into animal feeds. I know Alpo has a big plant in Crete NE that gets daily deliveries from beef and poultry operations.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks for the lessons on chickens. It makes sense that egg layers are not eating chickens.

So if this is affecting egg laying flocks but not eating flocks it would be interesting to know why. And if it is affecting eating flocks why hasn't the price gone up?

We have a family chickenologist I could ask but that's another story.

[Mike Nolan]

Roasting hens are a relatively fast egg-to-processing cycle, laying hens can live a couple of years.

Personally, I suspect the 'free range' movement has probably led to an increase in bird flu.

[chocomouse]

Whenever I read about "free-range eggs" I get an image of a large pasture with dozens of eggs rolling around in the weeds and grass!

[Mike Nolan]

We had a small flock of chickens when I was young, they had a hen house and fenced in yard that was probably about 8 x 20 feet total. As one of the younger kids (I had 4 brothers and a sister), I often got elected to go collect eggs. Most days we'd get 2-5 eggs. (I think the most chickens we ever had was 6.)

Climbing inside the cage and digging around in the hen house was messy (chickens create a lot of smelly excrement), but for the most part they tended to lay their eggs inside where there was hay rather than outside in the muck. And when you reached for their eggs, you often got pecked at.

I was not disappointed when we got rid of the chicken coop.

We knew some farmers who just let their chickens roam around the barnyard, they sometimes found eggs in the grass or under bushes but most of the time the hens went back to their roosts to lay their eggs.

I've not visited a commercial 'free range' egg farm, but from what I've been told, the hens may have access to a yard but don't use it a lot.

[RiversideLen]

I just ran across this article that explains why meat chickens have not been affected much by the bird flu. In a nutshell, their short lifespan makes them less vulnerable to the flu because they are not around for long. I hope this link works.

Broiler Chickens Bird Flu

I mentioned before, I watch a youtube channel from an animal farmer, it's a small family farm, he just raises chickens, eggs, pigs, a small breed of cattle and turkeys for Thanksgiving and sells direct to consumers in a large farmers market. He pasture raises the animals as much as possible (not during winter). He has mobile chicken coops that he moves about the pasture, I think every week or two. The chickens spend the night in the coop but when he opens the door in the morning they rush out of there as fast as possible. They'll stay outside until sunset and then go back in the coop. I think the large commercial egg operations may provide outdoor access to their hens but they might have to explore a bit to find the access door, so most of them just stay put.

[Mike Nolan]

Beef prices are back to nearly record price levels and feedlot inventories are at their lowest level in years, so meat is going to be in shorter supply as well.

Nevada is suspending its 'free range' egg requirements, but I don't see that moving the national price level for eggs much.

[RiversideLen]

At Whole Foods, the omega 3 eggs that I like to get has increased to $5.99. Regular eggs are $3.99.

[chocomouse]

Large white eggs here are $7.49, large brown eggs are $7.99.

[BakerAunt]

I don't think that bird flu will end any time soon, especially since the staff working on investigating and tracking infectious diseases has been cut.

[Mike Nolan]

Another bird flu infection has been reported in Indiana. And we're not even to migration season yet.

[Author]

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