Eggs US – Price – Chart

Michigan here, this is has been made worse by a new law requiring all eggs to be 'cage-free'. I think I paid $9 for the cheap store-brand eggs (18) last week.

And that is, if they even have any eggs at the store. I've been to Wal-mart and Kroger when the entire section is empty with a sign saying there are egg supply issues.

It's also winter so my 'chicken farmer friends' are low on eggs, when it's cold the chickens don't lay nearly as many.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/12/18/m...

How does cage free make this worse? The supply shortages are coming from avian flu in every report I have heard.

Well, that'd depend on the law's definition of a cage but it's a hell of a lot easier to protect chickens that are fully enclosed vs those that are free range.

That's true when you're talking about foxes and wolves, but not if you're talking about an airborne flu.

Rows of adjacent cages keeping groups of chickens in close proximity with each other with shared air.

Many cage free chickens are also free range chickens, where they can roam outside. That massively increases their chances of picking up the bird flu, as opposed to those they are inside all day.

I'm not advocating for one or the other, just explaining. Even cage free chickens will come into close enough proximity where they will all die if just one chicken picks up the flu. It's incredibly virulent.