Why only Eggs and not Chicken?

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Rezlooper
So if the bird flu is causing the eggs to skyrocket and there's an alleged shortage, why does the bird flu not affect the price of chickens? Why are only eggs skyrocketing and not the chickens? Is there something I'm missing here?

I heard something and it is making more and more sense.

Rising egg prices are not due to bird flu, it might be a small hike but not much.

The problem is that all costs have gone up for farmers and grocery stores DO NOT want to compensate them for higher feed costs, higher electric costs, higher bird costs etc. So now that is creating a supply standoff.
Farmers won’t and can’t sell for 2018 prices, and grocery stores don’t want to pay higher prices.
And here we are.

That would make sense as whole chicken farmers and egg farmers probably operate differently.

The cost of feed has not just gone through the roof, but the quality of the feed, is causing a decrease in the number of eggs that chickens are laying. Because my Brother free ranges his chickens, it only impacted his chickens for a short period of time. But for those that cannot free range it is a huge problem.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: Lemon1234

We have cinnamon queens, ipa's, eggers and maran's. Several homesteading and livestock groups enlightened me that large eggs are fairly normal for a chicken just starting it's laying cycle for the first time. When our green egger first started laying her eggs were at least the size of duck eggs. She's fine now though.

a reply to: Moon68

I believe you.Every bird is different.

originally posted by: ancientlight

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: Rezlooper

Because they are using the eggs for vaccines and not telling anyone......

Just a thought.

I hope not, but I find it hard to believe that any 'vaccine' would survive stomach acids, and how would it just not be digested vs adopted in the bloodstream where it does it's thing?

They use eggs for flu vaccines. They grow viruses in them.

There are currently three types of influenza vaccines available: recombinant, cell based, and egg based. They all start with the same viruses from the WHO. Scientists at pharmaceutical companies receive only about a vial’s worth of the viruses from the organization, so the firms need to replicate them to create enough for millions of flu vaccines. The process is different for each type of vaccine.

Growing influenza viruses in eggs is the oldest way of making flu vaccines. Scientists inject a live virus into an embryonated egg, let the virus replicate, collect the replicates, purify them, and then kill them. They use those inactivated viruses to make the flu vaccine.

a reply to: ancientlight

www.insider.com...

The US potentially has millions of chickens laying eggs year-round. Bright said in a pandemic influenza outbreak 900,000 chicken eggs are needed every day for up to nine months to make enough vaccines for the US alone.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Yes poor quality feed absolutely is part of this.

Not just for animals but think of the impact to humans.

This is why we are so much taller than our ancestors, nutrition!
I think 20 or so years ago things were much better than companies did everything they could to make food cheap
And it all started going downhill.

I think we are going to see another downhill trend. It will be interesting to see how this impacts children born today.
I’ve already read that the youngsters will be more prone to colon cancer!

I think the seeming dichotomy lay in the bigger question and suggests the egg actually came first.

And you do know why he crossed the road, right?

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

We get a lot of eggs in the summer. Too many that we end up giving them away, but during the winters we run out.

This year we are going the waterglass our excess eggs for the winter months. See how it works out.

originally posted by: Moon68
When a chicken is processed, it is killed, gutted and boil dipped as part of the process. Boil dipping will kill the bird flu pathogens. With eggs, those pathogens carry through into the yolks. This is as I understand it.

You are wrong

originally posted by: 38181
a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

We get a lot of eggs in the summer. Too many that we end up giving them away, but during the winters we run out.

This year we are going the waterglass our excess eggs for the winter months. See how it works out.

I would.

Could be the only thing that keeps you alive the way things are going.

originally posted by: Moon68
Last summer we picked up another dozen or so laying pullets for $3.50 each. There's been a lot of talk recently, and it wouldn't surprise me, that layers could hit around $20 each by this coming summer.

Time to get a rooster and shift your production to pullets...

It's funny that my friends that have about a dozen hens are drowning in eggs typically.

originally posted by: 38181

This year we are going the waterglass our excess eggs for the winter months. See how it works out.

Waterglass works well and will keep them fresh throughout the winter. I had this conversation a few weeks ago with friends that have hens and too many eggs have been typically their issue. Lately they have found eggs are now a good barter tool though where in the recent past they could hardly give them away.

originally posted by: 38181

originally posted by: Rezlooper
So if the bird flu is causing the eggs to skyrocket and there's an alleged shortage, why does the bird flu not affect the price of chickens? Why are only eggs skyrocketing and not the chickens? Is there something I'm missing here?

Chicken has gone up too, but also remember that roosters don’t lay eggs. So there is that offset.


I remember a bag of chicken pieces for $5, ugh no more.

Chicken has only gone up like everything else. Nothing in comparison to eggs.

a reply to: Moon68

I have 4 Rhode Island Red roosters and 7 ISA Brown laying hens. The hens were bought (chicks) this past spring. They started laying about 6 months of age, and for the first month the eggs were small. I have never heard of oversized eggs to start. Mine are all free-range, so once they are old enough to turn loose there's no feed and no feed cost.

Right now we get 5-6 eggs per day average. The original eggs were small, the same size as small eggs in the store. Within a week or so they went to large size. Now they put store-sized jumbo eggs to shame... easily 25% or more larger than the store jumbos. We actually have trouble fitting some into egg crates. I don't sell them; figure I don't have enough to make it worthwhile, so I use them as rewards for people who are good to me. If I get good service at a fair price, I ask the serviceman, "Do you like eggs?" If the answer is "yes," he'll leave with a dozen of my organic, hormone-free, free-range brown eggs. I also provide eggs to those near me who are struggling with high prices, mostly extended family or close friends.

I expect the number of eggs to increase to 7-8 (yes, sometimes a hen will lay two eggs a day) this summer. The key seems to be the feed... during winter, there's not as many bugs around, so egg production usually drops. During the summer, they pump out eggs like their lives depend on it; they have all the bugs they can eat. The fact they are free-range also seems to be a factor for size; mine roost near the house and there's a light there for them to feel safe; they're never in a coop once the young ones are released. We lose a few (one so far out of this batch due to them getting too far from the house), but the loss is minimal. We have a pit bull for protection, plenty of light at night, and when we can get some more, we will have turkeys for protection as well.

I don't know how much chicks will be this year, but I bet good money they'll be way, way up. I think I paid $4 each for these hens last spring. I am building an automatic incubator this spring as one of my first major projects. That should help with having to buy replacement chicks. I've already sold a few dozen to flock owners for incubation ($10 a dozen).

Right now, jumbo white eggs, the plain-Jane store brand kind with a slightly yellow hue where the yolk should be, are going for over $6 a dozen. Large (tiny to my eye, but that's what the store calls them) organic brown eggs are nearly $7 a dozen. I get about 3 dozen a week for free just by picking them up from the laying house, and mine have yolks in them! Big, orange, rich yolks... sometimes two!

TheRedneck

a reply to: iwanttobelieve70

Please share.

originally posted by: Moon68
Last summer we picked up another dozen or so laying pullets for $3.50 each. There's been a lot of talk recently, and it wouldn't surprise me, that layers could hit around $20 each by this coming summer.

That's what they are here already once sex guaranteed by laying.

I used to get free hens from the small producers after their best laying was over. Even got a few of one breed that would lay all winter. Not an egg each hen daily as they were about three years old but six hens and I'd still get over run with eggs most of the year.

a reply to: Rezlooper

Laying hens are not eating birds, or "roasters".

That's it in a nutshell.

Different birds, different purpose.

The price has risen on both where I'm from.

a reply to: TheRedneck

My Brother has what he calls his own chickens. He has bred several different types of egg layers looking for his special match.

He has those jumbo plus egg layers also. They "are" bigger than the duck eggs, but the ducks just started laying about a month ago. Some of those chicken eggs are so big that if you put them in a store bought egg carton, you can't close the carton.

His chickens are free ranging. He does provide them with diet supplements. You can tell when their diet needs improvement, because sometimes the egg will break in your hand when you pick it up. He is all natural, and every chicken has a name. They know their names and they will follow him like they are puppies.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Interesting. Our egger has been our only one but the fact it happened caused me to pay more attention to the groups discussions. Long time raisers are the ones who shared that it wasn't abnormal and nothing to worry about. A new lady on the boards had a couple young hens laying huge, bloodied eggs that freaked her out. Later, she said everything normalized.


I can say that we've never had extra small eggs from any of our birds.

originally posted by: Moon68
a reply to: TheRedneck

Interesting. Our egger has been our only one but the fact it happened caused me to pay more attention to the groups discussions. Long time raisers are the ones who shared that it wasn't abnormal and nothing to worry about. A new lady on the boards had a couple young hens laying huge, bloodied eggs that freaked her out. Later, she said everything normalized.

Bloodied eggs are usually because the rooster was nearby at some point.

Gotta keep them separated.