Summary
Egg producers blame the bird flu outbreak for record-high prices, but critics argue dominant companies are exploiting supply shortages to boost profits.
With over 166 million birds culled and egg layers significantly reduced, prices surged from under $2 to nearly $5 per dozen.
Egg supply is down only 4% from last year, yet profits have surged. Cal-Maine Foods, supplying 20% of U.S. eggs, reported a $219 million profit in the last quarter, compared to just $1.2 million before the outbreak, a 18,150% increase.
Lawmakers and advocacy groups are calling for a government investigation into potential monopolistic practices.
My big question is that if a whole flock is killed when bird flu is discovered, why are JUST egg prices going up? My local grocery store recently had a sale on chicken but the eggs are in short supply and cost nearly 10 times what they used to a few months ago? Shouldn’t chicken meat be expensive too? Or do I not know anything about poultry farming and bird flu?
My understanding is that there are different breeds of chickens used for eggs and meat.
This came up earlier in the outbreak for two reasons:
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Egg-laying chickens apparently take longer to age to the point where they produce eggs than meat chickens do before they are killed, so it takes longer to replace the producing stock of chickens.
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Meat chickens are apparently more resistant to the present strain than egg chickens, and are not impacted as badly.
That did make me hope that one could try to produce a hybrid egg chicken that could maybe also be more resistant.
kagis
Ah, this mentions both factors. Thought I’d need to dig up an article for each.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/egg-prices-shortage-chicken-question-everything/
“It takes 20 weeks to get a chicken to egg-laying age,” Hall explained. “The main problem is that it’s going to take so long to get that replacement flock.”
So when a farm has to destroy egg-laying chickens because of the spread of bird flu, it takes at least five months to get new hens to that egg-laying age again.
It’s a formula for trouble. Fewer egg-laying chickens means fewer eggs in the grocery store. Less supply with more demand means higher prices.
But it’s not the case for chicken meat. Why? First off, eggs and the chicken meat you buy at the store come from two different kinds of chickens.
Two types of chickens
The chicken breasts, wings and thighs that fill the refrigerators and freezers at Hall’s farm come from a “meat” chicken. It’s also known as a “broiler”, and it’s bred differently than a hen.
“A meat chicken is much wider, grows quicker,” Hall said.
A broiler is bred for rapid growth. It goes from a little chick to processing in less than two months, so they are very quickly replaced. Because of their short lifespan, there is also less time to be infected with bird flu. Therefore, supply for broiler chickens hasn’t been an issue.
Egg-laying chickens, or hens, are far more susceptible to bird flu. According to the USDA, of the 160 million birds that have been killed during the outbreak, 77% of them are egg-laying hens. The hens simply live longer, so they have more exposure.
At Nallie Pastures, egg prices have held at $8 a dozen. Hens there have all remained healthy and business is healthy too.
EDIT: Hmm. I take back the bit about meat chickens being more genetically-vulnerable. It sounds from this article like it’s just that the need to keep them alive longer to reach egg production makes them more vulnerable, and other articles I dig up say the same thing. I probably just misunderstood some earlier article that said that egg chickens were more vulnerable to mean that they were more genetically-vulnerable.
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Yes
A rare inversion of Betteridge’s law of headlines is “whenever someone questions whether or not the rich and powerful are exploiting everyone, the answer is yes”
It’s capitalism, baby!
Im not sure its the producers that inflate it. Its usually those between producer and consumer
It’s not capitalism, baby?
People have to understand that if the price is too high, they can just not buy it.
It is as simple as that. As long as you buy, it is not too expensive. Just stop eating eggs.
Haven’t bought eggs all year. Not over $4. Of course, for me, they’re just a nice treat…shoyu eggs make a great snack; egg baked on khachapuri; fried over rice. Some people, they’re a key protein, or essential to cakes & cookies. I figure, if the price is high, then leaving them on the shelf makes more available where they’re irreplaceable, but I can still feel bad for people who have to pay that price.
Who is forced to pay it? Eggs aren’t irreplacable
It’s important to remember that we can’t dictate or predict other people’s dietary restrictions. We can still feel empathy for people in a predicament due to prices
Dietary restriction? What disease mandates eating eggs?
Empathy for people for eating expensive eggs? Usually people want empathy for the animals because eating them is cruel.
One example I can think of is that it could be a safe food for someone with an eating disorder or sensory considerations.
And people have to understand that Marie Antoinette said the same line and it started the french revolution.
What you’re saying is true in fact, but I feel like you’re letting the price gougers off the hook a little. Eggs are popular because they’re versatile, nutritionally dense and traditionally cheap. Eggs are almost the best breakfast kids can have before school because they help with focus and keep them full. There really isn’t a replacement at the same price point. I don’t think we should expect them to be so cheap that we rely on animal cruelty, but they shouldn’t be a luxury item either.
There really isn’t a replacement at the same price point.
Oatmeal, but I guess some kids are picky about eating goo 😅
I batch cook steel cut oats in a rice cooker every weekend, 50/50 water/milk. The kids previously rejected instant rolled oats, but actually like steel cut!
Oatmeal has far less protein and vitamins, more calories, hundreds of times more carbs, etc.
They are correct. Oatmeal is not a replacement in terms of nutrition at that price point.
Half a cup of dry oats has 5g of protein and 1 egg has 6.3g of protein. The difference isn’t huge, and since we’re talking about price then it should be noted $5 will get you only a dozen eggs but can also get you 30 servings of Quaker oats.
No argument that it has carbs, but it also has fiber and kids rarely get enough of that.
It isn’t a bad substitute. Plus you can add fruit and nuts! You’re just being picky.
You’re talking just about breakfast and for some reason kids. Eggs are simply used for much more than that.
They are used in custards, quiches, enriched breads, pasta, pastries, fried rice, egg salads, mayonnaise, etc. The list goes on. There is no real substitute for it.
Maybe the world should embrace plant based alternatives so we are not so reliant on maintaining hundreds of millions chickens?
No, we shouldn’t. I love plant based foods but plant based alternatives are highly processed 💩
I don’t know if you realize this but when you say “you’re being picky” about food in contexts such as this it can be considered ableist, and also dismissive and inconsiderate in my opinion. I prefer oatmeal to eggs but if someone told me I was “being picky” because of a choice I made because of price, sensory experience, and energy cost, I would be offended. I wouldn’t say this every time the word is used but the context and your username make me think it is appropriate and you might be receptive to the feedback.
I mentioned “picky eaters” because I used to consider myself one, but that was before I was medicated for my anxiety. Now that I think about it I myself had a lot of AFRID symptoms as a child and still experience some anxiety if certain foods touch on my plate or if I bite something and experience the “wrong” texture, but since being medicated my palette of acceptable foods has expanded a lot? I guess I never really made the connection to that maybe being connected to neurodivergence.
I guess I had blinders on about this. Thanks for pointing this out.
And I think my nephew is the same way and I’m going to stop teasing him about it. It’s not okay even if I was the same.
I feel very heard and understood from reading this response. I’m glad it was received how I intended it to be. My first reaction was to be a bit harsher and speak from an emotional place nd I’m glad I thought twice and wrote a comment that was more accurate and effective. It means a lot that you took what I said seriously and even had some self reflection that may make a difference in another’s life. Thank you.
Great job at the end there commenting on something that isn’t what I said. I should have known better than to bother replying to you.
Considering where egg prices were, and that being the root of the discussion, the cost comparison is irrelevant and worthless.
You should also be comparing a cooked cup of oatmeal to two eggs.
And I’ll go ahead and stop there.
I thought we were talking about oats being a substitute for eggs under the current price regime, where prices were didn’t seem relevant? Also, I just compared 1 serving to 1 serving. Why not compare 1 cup of dry oats to two eggs if you’re just going to freestyle your breakfast? I only mentioned fruit and nuts because those are things you don’t really add to eggs, and can help picky eaters.
Yes, eggs are very good nutritionwise. But deseases like mentioned in the post (those greedy company owners) should steer people away from it. Somehow it doesn’t and people keep buying it.
I’d prefer oats + (soy) yoghurt (skyr) + fruits
Food too expensive? Just don’t eat.
Housing too expensive? Just don’t sleep.
Remember 2023? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Egg Producers Accused of Price Gouging After 718% Profit Revealed
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The possibility of losing their entire flock of chickens is a pretty reasonable concern right now.
What’s a “pun’kin”?
I’m guessing it’s a quantity of eggs, but Google isn’t helping.
A pumpkin.
I’m sure if you offered to buy an entire field of pumpkins they would work with you on the price. It’s sort of how trade works.
A 1000% markup is pretty fucked though. That’s the world we’re dealing with.
If people keep buying, the prices will also never go back to what they were as sellers will decide that the market supports it (though probably reducing what farmers actually get so of course the middlemen get all the profit – buy direct and local wherever possible!)
Got 6 chickens last year, the wife said we probably spent too much decking out their living space. I say probably, but they’re more pets for me to have, the 6 eggs a day is just a nice bonus.
Smash cut to this year: suddenly my “investment” is going to be paid off much sooner 😅
How much human food can you feed a chicken before they get sick?
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What amount is moderate though? I throw out more leftovers than I wish, it would be nice to have some chickens eat that. Can I replace 50% of its diet with leftovers?
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What is a cherry apple? Asking for a friend, who is a chicken.
Absolutely.
Why can’t I find half dozen eggs? I don’t each many eggs so a dozen would have a significant number wasted. They used to be self half dozen quantities?
You can’t eat 12 eggs in 4 weeks?
I might only want one omelet in a month but I’d force myself to have a 2nd I order to use up the eggs.
They last so much longer than the best before date.
Yes but not nearly long enough. I like occasional 2 egg omelette but not more than once a week.
Oh no, when supply dwindles and the demand keeps up or increases, prices increase as well
As economic and market analysis predict it!
Color me surprised
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This site is worse than reddit for hive mind
It wouldn’t surprise me if they were increasing prices not to take profits and keep them, but to increase profits and purchase politicians. You know… exactly like what’s been happening with this most recent “inflation,” we’ve had.
Just a reminder that a scant couple years ago, egg prices skyrocketed under claims of inflation…and were cut in half almost overnight when Harris threatened RICO investigations.
Which also had supermarkets like Kroger coming forward to admit to gouging (to prevent investigations into other shit they were doing)
Eggs are really hard to steal. Not impossible, just difficult.
A DIY chicken coop is starting to look like a goldmine. It would pay for itself in a month or two. If you can repurpose some skids / pallets you can build one really cheap. Chicken feed doesn’t cost much.
I have experience with backyard chickens. Its a wonderful experience, chickens are surprisingly cool critters. And you will get the best eggs you’ve ever had. But you won’t be saving any money lol. Still worth it.
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It entirely depends on your infrastructure. I was house sitting a large estate once that basically had 0 upkeep costs for their chicken as they’d go and find most of their own food and there were no natural predators nearby. It was literally free eggs sort of deal.
People who have rice fields for example have 0 upkeep ducks that just go to the field and eat all of the critters there so not only you get free eggs and duck your rice maintenance is easier!
Every person I’ve ever talked to who’s done this has said they regretted it.
Chickens are notoriously delicate.
Most people who think on doing this and succeed really love chickens and have a good way with understanding animals and the value of a life. It’s not for everyone
In Trump’s America, that’s entirely plausible.
Narrator: “they are”
