Americans stress-buy chickens as egg prices soar
As runaway inflation drives the price of eggs to record highs, families have found a novel way to cut costs: buy their own chickens.
Hatcheries say they are abuzz with inquiries from households looking to become more self-sufficient by investing in chicks that can cook their breakfast.
Eggs have become an increasingly popular commodity, with supermarket shelves often stripped of boxes. Manufacturer Dollar Tree revealed last week that it would have to stop selling eggs after the cost of a dozen tripled in two years to $4.21.
And tempers soared when news broke that companies were profiting from higher prices as families struggled to make ends meet. Cal-Maine Foods, the largest US egg producer, saw profit rise 718 percent in its latest financial quarter.
So it’s no surprise that shoppers are taking matters into their own hands, as sustainable chicken feed company Grubbly Farms reports that its customer base has skyrocketed 20 percent this year alone.
Blogger Lisa Steele invested in her own chickens after the 2008 financial crisis, but says interest in her lifestyle has skyrocketed since inflation pushed up the price of eggs.
Steele, 56, lives with her husband Mark, 61, and together they share 14 chickens and nine ducks on their farm in Maine, New England.
She said that visits to her blog and book sales have increased tremendously due to the growing interest in chicken ownership.
Grubbly Farms co-founder Patrick Pittaluga said: “We’re seeing more and more customers turning to backyard chickens and switching to our feeds to boost production of their homegrown eggs.”
He added that he also raises his own flock and is now eager to “educate the public on the ins and outs of backyard chicken ownership.”
Freedom Ranger Hatchery in Pennsylvania previously said fortune magazine that its stock was constantly running out.
For farm blogger Lisa Steele this is not a surprise.
Steele began investing in chickens in 2009 after the financial crisis left her nervous about the cost of living.
She blogs and writes books about her experience, saying interest in her lifestyle has never been greater.
“My blog views and sales have increased,” he told Dailymail.com.
‘Raising chickens became very popular during the pandemic when people were worried about going to the supermarket.
“And as prices skyrocketed, it became very popular again. I think people just want a sense of security at times like this.
“It means we don’t have to worry about the cost of the eggs or whether they’re available on the shelves.”
Patrick Pittaluga, who runs chicken feed company Grubbly Farms, says sales have jumped 20% since egg prices started rising.
The Robbins family owns 40 chickens, after first investing in some about two years ago.
Steele, 56, lives with her husband Mark, 61, and together they share 14 chickens and nine ducks on their farm in Maine, New England.
She says they cost only ‘pennies’ to keep and feed each day and leave the couple inundated with more eggs than they could possibly use.
‘We must get around 24 eggs per month per hen. I end up freezing them and using them for baking.’
However, he points out that chickens only lay eggs until they are six or seven years old, while they continue to live until they are ten.
“You also have to be prepared to offer a retirement home to the chickens,” Steele said.
And start-up costs can be considerable, too.
A chicken coop alone usually costs between $300 and $400, although some larger models can cost thousands of pounds.
And households must also pay for their food and bedding. An average 50-pound bag of food costs up to $25.
Richard and Lisa Robbins, of Nashville, Tennessee, say the money saved by raising chickens is minimal.
Instead, they were drawn to the self-sufficiency that it brings with it.
The Robbins family first invested in chickens about two years ago.
They recently bought ten more chicks after being scared off by rising costs and limited egg availability. Now they have 40 in total.
They have sold about 30 chickens that they hatched themselves to some friends.
Richard Robbins is pictured with one of his chickens. The 47-year-old man, from Nashville, Tennessee, identifies as a ‘prepper’
Ten-month-old Hannah is pictured here playing with some of the family’s chicks. The family consumes about 30 eggs a day.
Stephen Robbins, 12, is pictured with a handful of eggs from his farm. The family owns an 11-acre property in Nashville, Tennessee.
The couple share eight children between them ranging from 10 months to 16 years. Between them they eat around 30 eggs per day.
‘For us it was the limited availability that concerned us more than the cost. All supermarkets are sold out now,” said Richard, 47.
“And now we find we have a long line of people who want to get their hands on them as well.”
The family lives on an 11-acre piece of land where their chicken coop is located.
All of the children are fully homeschooled, while Richard runs an online business.
Richard said he partly identifies as a “prepper,” a term that refers to people who actively prepare for a catastrophic disaster, including by storing food.
“There has been so much uncertainty in recent years with Covid and now prices are going up.
“We just want to be more independent and less dependent. It makes sense: this is how people lived hundreds of years ago. Civilization is something very new.
All supermarket groceries have skyrocketed in price thanks to roaring inflation.
Average egg prices dipped slightly to $4.21 a dozen in February 2023 after hitting a record $4.82 in January, more than triple what they were in early 2021.
Over the past two years, since February 2021, prices of food items like grains, meat, dairy and fruit have risen by an average of about 19 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, the price and availability of eggs have also been hit by a global outbreak of bird flu.
Average egg prices dipped slightly to $4.21 per dozen in February 2023 after reaching a record high of $4.82 in January. In February 2021, the price was just $1.59 a dozen.