←back to thread

Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

(civileats.com)
310 points greenie_beans | 2 comments | 19 Feb 25 21:46 UTC | HN request time: 0.76s | source
Show context
memsom ◴[20 Feb 25 10:21 UTC] No.43113082[source]▶
Wow! I wondered about this article - US centric. I wondered because eggs are not expensive here. I just looked [1] [2]. I can get a dozen free range for about US$4 at the current conversion rate. They are a supermarket own brand, but even the "fancy" ones are something like that for 6, but some are actually still close to $4 for 12.

The US chicken market (not necessarily eggs specifically) was in the Morgan Spurlock documentary follow up to "Supersize me", and it looked like the chicken "mafia" controlled the business.[3]

[1] https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=eggs&inpu... [2] https://groceries.asda.com/search/eggs [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me_2:_Holy_Chicken!

replies(6): >>43113765 #>>43115159 #>>43115695 #>>43118137 #>>43118966 #>>43120325 #
abtinf ◴[20 Feb 25 15:16 UTC] No.43115695[source]▶
That is expensive.

Typically at Costco, 5 dozen eggs is under $12, sometimes as low as $8. Currently it is closer to $20, which is about your price.

replies(4): >>43116038 #>>43116404 #>>43116409 #>>43116578 #
1. memsom ◴[20 Feb 25 16:08 UTC] No.43116404[source]▶
Okay, so update - we went to the local Morrisons (another chain) over lunch and got 18 eggs (they are sold from trays that you box yourself, but we just took half a tray) for £5.40 (so, what? US$6.82) The eggs are sold by the egg too, 0.30 each, so we could have bought any number we wanted really. They are also free-range. Remember too, in Europe eggs don't need to be refrigerated because we don't treat then to remove the outer layer.
replies(1): >>43120363 #
2. seanmcdirmid ◴[20 Feb 25 21:21 UTC] No.43120363[source]▶
Europe vaccinates their chickens for salmonella I think (vs pasteurization in the states). They might be vaccinating them for bird flu as well, the USA just culls an entire flock if they find an infection in the flock.