Eggs Are So Pricey, Many Are Buying Backyard Birds

[JCY]

This was a headline in today's paper. There is a newfound fear people aren't going to be able to get eggs anymore, so they are buying chickens. Sellers of chicks are astounded at the demand. They are selling out as soon as they come in. Some towns have ordinances that limit the number of chickens one can raise in their backyards. Our city allows chickens, but one must have a permit & certain rules have to be followed. Before diving into the world of raising chickens, it's important that people educate themselves on the responsibility & associated costs.

The prices of eggs in CO have been impacted not only by the Avian bird flu, but by the new state law requiring that all eggs sold in grocery stores and produced on CO farms be cage-free.

When we first moved here in 1978, our neighbor behind us, across the alley, had chickens. One could hear the rooster crow in the mornings.

I'll continue to buy eggs at the store & pay the prices they charge. No backyard chickens for me.

[CarlieBlilie]

We have someone I our neighborhood that has chickens. We hear the rooster all the time and there are times they get loose and we have to chase them out of our yard. We live just out of the city limits. Eggs are so much more expensive since the pandemic. I bought an 18-pack for $5.29 which I thought was fairly good for now. They were free range, vegetarian fed.

[grammaterry]

Really good price. Our 18 pks are over $7

[jjkaiser]

No chickens for me either! Eggs here in Wis were $4.69 a dozen last week. Other things tho, a reg size jar (15 oz) of Kraft mayo was $4.99, which I thought was a lot, maybe bc it has eggs in it?

[grammaterry]

Yes, Mayo has eggs in it and also oil both of which have gone up. Sometimes I make homemade mayo but it doesn't have shelf stabalizer in it so it doesn't keep too well

[auntstuff]

You don't need a rooster to get eggs. You only need a rooster if you want to hatch chicks.

[Bubby]

That’s correct. Roosters need not apply!

[grammaterry]

True, however, I believe the rooster does do some protecting of the hens from my observation when I raised chickens; I had to change out my rooster every so often because they became pretty obnoxious toward me after a year or so and would try to flog me and that was my que to trade him off.

[Lilora]

A person should have to clean a chicken coop before owning chickens. Very dirty birds and salmonella is also a concern.

[Namastarz]

They are called fowl for a reason lol.

[mdeeter]

No chickens for us either...

[NancyH]

Eggs here in PA are anywhere from $4.69 a dozen and up in the grocery stores. I have seen them reach over $6.00 a dozen. We have a local farmer that we get eggs from. She used to charge $2.00 a dozen. About 3 months ago she raised them to $2.50 a dozen. I just picked some up last Thursday and they are now $3.00 a dozen. That is so much better than the grocery stores. They are nice large brown eggs so I am not complaining.

[grammaterry]

I , too am buying eggs from a person who raises chicken and they are XXL with the best stand up yolks and whites. She gets $3.50 a doz. Says feed is up almost double from a year ago so I sure don't begrudge her the cost.

[TMP]

I saw on tv where there is someone renting a chicken, a cage and food for the chicken. (can't remember where). They said to expect one to two eggs every couple of days. They said to check your local ordinances first and HOA. Amanda said mom the way we are with our animals we would never let the chicken live outside the kids and I would want it in the house with us. I told her I believe they smell really bad, and your dogs would never allow it in the house. I also saw a lady on Fox that has chickens as pets, and she loves on them like I would a cat or dog. She said they are very smart.

[Granny Fran]

I know they are smart because when in Vegas many years ago one beat me at tic-tac-toe. Very humiliating.

[grammaterry]

I wouldn't go so far as to use the word smart although they have good instinct. 40 years ago I had a flock of white leghorns (not a good plan in the mountains) and one day DH and I went to the neighbor about 20 min. away. DD called (age 13) and said, Mom, there's a bird messing with your chickens. I asked what it was doing to them, pecking on them? She replied, No, its pickng them up and carrying them away!! It was a hawk.
Now, to the point of them being smart...all the hens left went to the chicken house and one would stand in the doorway looking toward the sky. This went on for a week.

[Cowgirl quilter]

I have 6 chickens- one brave girl has given me an egg every day this winter. Yes, they take daily care- and feed - so my eggs aren’t free either, but they are good and fresh. One nice thing about country living - they can free range in the summer without bothering anyone.

[grammaterry]

When my mom was a little girl they had story problems in math. You remember? Anyway, one of the problems said, if you have 6 chickens and they lay an egg every day for two weeks, how many eggs would you get. My mom threw the book at her mom and said, this is a dumb book...everyone knows a chicken can't lay an egg EVERY day for two weeks.

[chelea]

My SIL has chickens. She started several years ago with about 4 and now she has over 20. The problem is that the older ones don't lay eggs anymore and she has named them all like pets so would never harm them. She's a little kooky so there's no telling how many she will end up with. They live in a rural area and she lets them free range. The coop looks like a chicken McMansion. They live about an hour away so we don't see them often but when we do, we're gifted a couple dozen. She gives away her excess eggs to the senior center in town.

[Cowgirl quilter]

I have a couple of “senior citizens “ too

[GuitarGramma]

When we were trying to sell our house in Northern California, a lot of people got turned off by the 1.5-acre farm behind us. We loved it so much that we had put up a wrought-iron fence between our properties, so the farm and its ducks, chickens, goats and horses were in full view. The farm owner told us to put into the listing "Pandemic-proof property. Neighbor will keep you fed no matter what happens at the grocery stores." My realtor wouldn't let me, but I thought that was a great selling point! Right about now, I would sure like some of their fresh eggs.

I've thought about getting chickens where we live now, but it's impossible for two reasons: HOA rules + coyotes.

[grammaterry]

RULES!!! Some of them make sense and others are just control. I know there are areas that it wouldn't be at all good to have chickens, goats pigs etc though.

[GuitarGramma]

In my last house, our HOA rules outlawed anything except cats and dogs. One of my neighbors gathered enough signatures to change the rule, and she got mohair goats. She would spin the mohair into yarn, and her daughter regularly won blue ribbons in the fiber category. We all had half-acre lots, so a couple of goats was no big deal in our semi-rural area where many people owned horses. Where I live now has such small lots, I don't mind the no-chicken rule. Plus, the coyotes here are terrible. Many people have had their little dogs snatched. It's so sad.

[grammaterry]

I sort of wish I could have chickens here but I do not like fenced in chickens so not possible with the hawks and critters that wander in the wooded areas. Plus we have that big concrete recreation area under the house that I would not want to keep clean of the pooh. But should we return to live full time in the mountains I will probably go back to having a few.

[GuitarGramma]

By the way, I use Ener-G Egg Substitute a lot in baked goods. It's not perfect, and it definitely works better in scratch baked goods over boxed mixes. But if eggs become too dear, you may want to have a box on hand: https://www.ener-g.com/products/egg-replacer

[auntstuff]

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  #4.1
  
  Bubby commented
  Today, 10:31 AM
  
  
  That’s correct. Roosters need not apply!
  Last edited by Bubby; Today, 10:34 AM.

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  #4.2
  
  grammaterry commented
  Today, 02:47 PM
  
  
  True, however, I believe the rooster does do some protecting of the hens from my observation when I raised chickens; I had to change out my rooster every so often because they became pretty obnoxious toward me after a year or so and would try to flog me and that was my que to trade him off.

Terry, just add a couple Bantam or Game hens to the mix. They work as well as a rooster, if not better.

[Bubby]

Guinea hens are as aggressive as guard dogs.

[Claire Hallman]

I have never had nor do I want chickens so I am happy that our HOA prohibits farm animals. We do also have fox, hawks and coyote.
I remember seeing a Quilt in a Day episode with chickens on the set, one was sitting in Eleanor Burns lap being petted. She seemed to love them.

[TMP]

Nor do I Claire. It's bad enough that my next door neighbor leaves food out for the feral cats and racoons. I am told we have coyotes also. Maybe they will all go in and visit her through her doggie door.