Vice president of Eggs Unlimited Brian Moscogiuri explains why egg prices will continue to soar as the bird flu outbreak slows production.
Consumers nationwide are facing egg shortages at retail stores, leading to purchasing restrictions and sky-high prices when they are in stock.
The cost of eggs surged by 15.2% in January, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index. This marked the largest increase in egg prices since June 2015 and accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total monthly rise in food prices, the Labor Department reported.
Whitney Bissonnette, an Arkansas-based chicken breeder, is fielding 50 to 100 messages every day from people asking to buy her chickens. The messages coming from across the country are double the amount she normally receives, though she has noticed an increase since outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza began in 2022.
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The wait list for one breed, Bresse chickens, is already closed, Bissonnette said, adding that she isn’t the only one getting hit with droves of messages. There is “such a high influx and demand of people just flooding everyone’s inboxes,” she said.
Jen Tompkins, co-founder of Rent The Chicken, a company that helps people rent chickens and provides all the necessary supplies, from feed to coops, has been flooded with inquiries, which have surged by 500% as of last week.
Whitney Bissonnette’s farm, Bissonnette Acres, in Arkansas. (Whitney Bissonnette )
Reservations are also up 15% to 20% compared with the same period a year ago, Tompkins told FOX Business.
People who don’t want to take the challenge have started relying on neighbors or friends who have already been raising their own chickens.
One of them, Stephanie Hall, who has a farm stand in South Carolina, told FOX Business she can’t keep up with the requests she has been getting from people seeking to buy her eggs.
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When she opened the farm stand at the foot of her driveway last week, she sold out of her eggs within a few hours. She is getting requests from her friends, family, co-workers and even her husband’s co-workers.
Stephanie Hall raises her own chickens and runs a farmstand in South Carolina. (Stephanie Hall)
“Not only do I sell my chicken eggs, but I sell my duck eggs and I can’t even keep up with that either,” said Hall, whose chickens produce about eight to nine eggs a day.
Gina Bare, director of program and partnership development at the National Environmental Health Association, recognizes that the “rise in backyard chicken coops reflects an exciting trend in local food production, with families increasingly interested in raising their own flocks for fresh eggs and educational opportunities.”
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However, Bare told FOX Business that “it’s important for families to approach backyard poultry keeping with proper health precautions.”
“Backyard poultry can carry germs that cause illness in humans, including infections from salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli. However, these risks can be effectively managed through simple preventive measures,” Bare said.
She emphasized the importance of families implementing basic hygiene practices, ensuring that there is space between flocks and living spaces, and that chickens are kept away from wild birds. She also said families need to monitor their birds’ health closely and report any unusual illness or unexpected deaths to their veterinarian, local cooperative extension office or state veterinarian immediately.
Stephanie Hall raises her own chickens and runs a farmstand in South Carolina. (Stephanie Hall)
To help, she also recommends that families connect with local resources.
“Their veterinarian and cooperative extension service can provide valuable guidance on proper care, disease prevention, and flock health maintenance,” she said, adding that the United States Department of Agriculture and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites offer comprehensive resources for backyard poultry owners.
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Bissonette warned that this isn’t an easy undertaking, saying that taking care of her chickens has been a 24/7 job. Bissonette said she constantly goes outside to break the ice up in the water buckets or give the chickens more straw or more feed.
“It is so much work. People don’t realize that. It’s definitely something that you have to love. You have to love working with animals,” she said.
