Egg Price Profiteering Where You Live Due To Coronovirus?

[Rivendell Chick]

I've been wanting to start with chickens ever since we moved onto our farm, but every spring something seemed to happen in life that always made me postpone - graduations, birthdays that required visits out of state, etc. The semi-lockdown was my final trigger than this was the spring to take the plunge, knowing I'd be here every day for the foreseeable future.

Eggs were 88/doz at the local grocery for large eggs before this began - while I taste the difference for sure, eggs being so inexpensive was a demotivator when I had some many other things going. Now we have limits on how many we can buy - so much so that I can't buy as many as I typically use in two weeks and I don't want to shop any more often with a spouse with several risk factors for the virus.

I'm enjoying our new girls so much already and love building projects, coop building in progress Fresh eggs in a few months is going to be wonderful, andif I have the breeds I think I have, we'll have a lovely mixed basket of eggs!

 

[Chicken Heel]

One thing I do love about this area is all the blossoms! It starts in early spring with what the locals call "Easter lilies," but I have always known as daffodils. And I never knew how many varieties there are! I gave a lady nine different types from my front yard a few weeks ago. Then the crocus, Bartlett pears, forsythia, redbud, cherry trees, iris, lilies, tulips, crape myrtle (later)... really more than i can name! It's like a never-ending roll of blooms, one doesn't end before another begins, a regular symphony of color. It's certainly like nothing I ever experienced in the desert, lol.

Your mention of "Easter Lillies" reminds me of my youth in the mountains of Avery County NC when my mother and Grandpa used that term for daffodils. And I liked your description of "a never-ending roll of blooms" too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Your mention of "Easter Lillies" reminds me of my youth in the mountains of Avery County NC when my mother and Grandpa used that term for daffodils. And I liked your description of "a never-ending roll of blooms" too.

A couple of years ago, after Easter, Wal-Mart had a sale on what I always considered "real" Easter lilies. You know, the big white trumpets. So I bought half a dozen or so and stuck them out in the front yard where i can see them from my front window. Well, those silly things don't bloom till mid to late summer! So I have decided that daffodils truly deserve the name "Easter lilies" after all, because they show up on time!

ETA: and thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Our house is encircled with a conglomeration of bulb flowers. Daffs, lilies of all kinds, Surprise Lilies (aka Naked Ladies), iris, tulips... I call it my Ring of Fire.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh-oh, apologies to the OP. We have really gotten off topic! Sorry!

 

[lmatvey]

Yes, apologies!

 

[WhiteWaterLady]

Our little local grocery store ran out of eggs about 2 weeks ago, but has them back now. Previous price was $1.50/dozen. Now they are up to $2/doz with a limit of 2/family. I still don't have any plans to raise my prices, as long as feed doesn't go up. But I did see an article a couple of days ago about farmers dumping milk and eggs because they can't sell them. I was very puzzled until today when I found out many of the packing plants for food items have not been deemed "essential" by the various government entities. *duh* The commercial growers that aren't getting their stuff sold will start slaughtering and then we'll be TRULY looking at food shortages!

 

[aart]

But I did see an article a couple of days ago about farmers dumping milk and eggs because they can't sell them. I was very puzzled until today when I found out many of the packing plants for food items have not been deemed "essential" by the various government entities.

Ehhhh...I think it's more because packing plants are setup for most of these to be sold in bulk instead of retail.

 

[gtaus]

I just found this very interesting thread and read through all 13 pages, whew! We have 18 hens, some retired. We are getting 12-15 eggs a day right now. Have been selling our excess to a couple of ladies on fixed incomes for $1/doz for quite some time and saw store prices ranging from $.77 to $3.98, marking empty shelves. We will not raise our prices. We never "break even" on expenses and don't expect to. The chickens are primarily tick control. They are also joy, therapy, peace. You can't put a price on that! Sometimes we get more eggs than our customers can use. Then we give them to relatives who seem happy to get them but don't ask, offer to pay, or go out of their way for them. It's all good. We just don't want them to go to waste. I like what that one poster said about the eggs being a gift. True that. So, as long as we can pass it on, we will. We are no longer able to share through our church, so.... just doing what we can. This too shall pass.

It's great that you are able to sell your eggs to those on fixed incomes, and to give eggs away to others. If you can no longer give to your church, is there a local Food Shelf or similar charity that would be happy to receive your eggs? Almost every night on the news I see people in cars lined up for food, so there are people in need for sure.

I know that I am lucky in that Dear Wife has been selling our excess eggs for $2.00 per dozen to her friends and that pays for all my commercial feed. I never expected to make money with my small backyard flock, but it's great that selling our excess eggs pays for my expenses and I can break even on my hobby. And, like you said, having a small backyard flock offers many other benefits that you cannot put a price on.

 

[gtaus]

Our little local grocery store ran out of eggs about 2 weeks ago, but has them back now. Previous price was $1.50/dozen. Now they are up to $2/doz with a limit of 2/family. I still don't have any plans to raise my prices, as long as feed doesn't go up. But I did see an article a couple of days ago about farmers dumping milk and eggs because they can't sell them. I was very puzzled until today when I found out many of the packing plants for food items have not been deemed "essential" by the various government entities. *duh* The commercial growers that aren't getting their stuff sold will start slaughtering and then we'll be TRULY looking at food shortages!

That's a shame to waste food like that when so many are currently in need. I hope our representatives in government look at these issues and come up with a plan better than dumping food. I remember back in the 1970's when the government had the cheese program and they gave out blocks of cheese to people. You would think that maybe the government could buy up excess milk and eggs in times like these and redistribute the food to people in need.

I'm sure it's not as easy as that, but when I was a contracting officer for the military, we had contracts in place and updated for companies to switch over to wartime production of weapons if needed. And yes, SPAM is made in Minnesota and we had military contracts in place with them if needed. So I am sure there must be other government food contracts for other commodities. I hope there are some smart people looking at these issues and in the future we will not see dumping of food in some places while we have people lined up for hours for food at other places.