For what it's worth -
I don't generally like 'pranks' - I tend to take things seriously, and not find the funny in places other people do. And I've gotten tired of being told to "lighten up" when I don't find funny where someone else does. I really don't like jokes or humor that depend on mocking someone else, or making them embarrassed. And no, April Fools is not my favorite holiday ever.
And if I hadn't logged on to complain about the zoning regulations changing in my town, I wouldn't have even seen the thread.
But:
I thought this was *funny* - I fell for it, hook line & sinker, even complaining about the "happy chickens have names" feel-good-greenwash baloney along the way. And trying to figure out how to get the pearl white egg layer so I could get the $0.25 premium! But it was still funny to me.
I realize that some people are in very tight financial situations right now - and I feel bad if some of them got their hopes up. But, seriously, do the math. Ten dozen every two weeks is $60 extra a month. You'd save more than that by giving up in-house internet, and God knows I'd make more than that if I spent two less hours a week on the internet and instead canning, mowing neighbor's lawns, etc. People do need to know how to assess the pros and cons of a situation. If this prank served to make some people re-think the financial pros of raising back yard chickens, then that lesson - however temporarily painful - was, imo, worth it.
(God knows I've had to learn those sorts of lessons myself.)
So - I can see where people didn't care for a prank that involved the promise of money. Except that it wasn't so much a promise as a possibility. Or a suggestion of a possibility.
The old traveling salesmen used to say "you can't con an honest man." If we weren't so eager to make money off people who honestly thought 'backyard eggs from happy chickens' were worth $3 to the producer, well, fewer of us would have been caught.
(And yes, people do pay $3/dozen for not-even-free-range eggs at my local farmer's market.)
Next year, I might remember - and I'll be looking for the joke thread...