Egg Price Profiteering Where You Live Due To Coronovirus?

[gtaus]

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!

Yes, last year when our eggs were only 88 cents per dozen locally, it did not make much sense to raise a small backyard flock for eggs alone. But I got 10 chicks anyway because I wanted some chickens for many other reasons. I worked my butt off building a coop and run, and will be upgrading it this year too. I enjoyed the experience of building the coop and it was a great opportunity for me to buy all kinds of power tools on my wish list without Dear Wife complaining too much. So having fresh eggs everyday now is just a bonus. Nothing like getting that first egg for your girls. Every egg is a gift to many of us.

 

[gtaus]

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

That is mostly what I hear, too. But it's still a shame to see companies dumping milk and eggs when your local stores have empty milk and egg shelves. I hope we do better in the future.

 

[Kgbao]

I know we went to the store for our weekly stuff and eggs was one of the things on the list. If I remember right it was a little over $6 for a 18 pack. I really don’t understand the price of eggs skyrocketing.

Wife asked me jokingly are your chickens going to start popping out eggs soon this is crazy.. ours are only 3.5 weeks old lol.

 

[gtaus]

I know we went to the store for our weekly stuff and eggs was one of the things on the list. If I remember right it was a little over $6 for a 18 pack. I really don’t understand the price of eggs skyrocketing.

Wife asked me jokingly are your chickens going to start popping out eggs soon this is crazy.. ours are only 3.5 weeks old lol.

If you can find eggs on the store shelf locally, they are typically twice the price now compared to the pre-Pandemic prices. I guess with kids not going to school, and so many people no longer going to work, there is just a greater demand for eggs at home.

Most chicken breeds don't start laying eggs until 5-6 months, so I hope your wife can wait it out. On the positive side, those first eggs will be even more precious if these times extend into the fall or beyond.

 

[aart]

That is mostly what I hear, too. But it's still a shame to see companies dumping milk and eggs when your local stores have empty milk and egg shelves. I hope we do better in the future.

It is a shame, but, I understand it from the processing/packaging point of view, having worked in that industry. It takes boat loads of money and copious amounts of time to switch a packaging line over to a different package. These items are perishable and can't just be kept on hold as there are also limits to the storage prior to packaging.
Not sure we can 'do better in the future', but it might just clue people in to how our foods gets to us and be a bit more grateful and mindful of the 'big picture' and our own consumer habits.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

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.

At this point, my 2 or 3 dozen excess doesn't go far enough to share with our local Bread Shed food pantry, although I have done that in the past. There's a good chance I will be able to do so again, though. It's nice to be able to share! They gave them away on a lottery basis, I understand, and others with extra eggs also donated.

 

[MerylCheep]

What I’m getting from this is eggs are dirt cheap in the US! Local farm eggs here are about £3/six, so almost $9/dozen! Battery eggs from the store are obviously cheaper, but even those are £1/ten at Aldi, so $1.24.

 

[wolfwalker]

What I’m getting from this is eggs are dirt cheap in the US! Local farm eggs here are about £3/six, so almost $9/dozen! Battery eggs from the store are obviously cheaper, but even those are £1/ten at Aldi, so $1.24.

I think it depends on the part of the country people live in. Here in southern Arizona, eggs normally retail in teh store for 2.89 a dozen large white. Every once in a blue moon, a store will have a coupon that you can buy a dozen eggs for 88 cents, limit 2. Brown eggs, they go for about a dollar more. Then you have teh gimmicks from teh factory farm egg plants. like cage free and such those go for about 4.99. Organic eggs here start at 6.99 a dozen and go up.

 

[lmatvey]

It is a shame, but, I understand it from the processing/packaging point of view, having worked in that industry. It takes boat loads of money and copious amounts of time to switch a packaging line over to a different package. These items are perishable and can't just be kept on hold as there are also limits to the storage prior to packaging.
Not sure we can 'do better in the future', but it might just clue people in to how our foods gets to us and be a bit more grateful and mindful of the 'big picture' and our own consumer habits.

Absolutely! Government can’t (and maybe shouldn’t ) solve local problems..... IDK but i seems like loving your neighbor really is the way to go!

 

[member 158781]

I hope Dear Wife does not see your post!! How do you get 12 eggs a day from 11 chickens?

We got a couple of overachievers. One lays HUGE eggs and we have 1 chicken that sometimes gives us 2 eggs a day.