Eggsplanation
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From KXKN.com: "There are several reasons for the current spike in prices, Klein said. For one, there was a severe outbreak of avian influenza among many species of birds, including egg-laying hens in commercial facilities.
"When avian flu is detected in a commercial flock, producers often have to euthanize the affected birds to control the outbreak, Klein said. Avian influenza led to the deaths of over 52 million birds in 2022.
More to the point:
"Klein said that the price of eggs likely won’t return to a more normal level until August. After flocks had to be euthanized following the avian influenza outbreak, all of those birds had to be replaced.
"Klein said egg producers have been repopulating their coops, and many of the chicks will hatch in the next few weeks. After they emerge from their shells, it takes around 20 weeks until they can start laying eggs of their own and 40 weeks before they reach their peak production levels."
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^I love their use of euthanize; it sounds so much kinder than slaughter.
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Doesn't eggsplain all of it.
At any given time, the U.S. has somewhere around 400M laying hens. If the kill-off was 52M, that about 13%. But keep in mind, the 52M number is for the year.
Other factors include the cost of packaging, which has gone up. Fuel prices have been very high, as have feed prices. And chickens don't lay as much in the winter.
Another thing...A lot of my friends and neighbors have been complaining about the quality of their chicken feed, particularly laying pellets. Crude analysis may be the same (supposedly), but the feed is not the same quality as they were getting last year. That may be because the mills are mixing in more things like ground cob, etc.
Lastly, slaughter and euthanize have some slightly different connotations. Slaughter usually means the birds are going to be processed. Usually, with older layers, that's dog or cat food. To me, euthanize means mass killing, then burying or incinerating.
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Doesn't eggsplain all of it.
At any given time, the U.S. has somewhere around 400M laying hens. If the kill-off was 52M, that about 13%. But keep in mind, the 52M number is for the year.
Other factors include the cost of packaging, which has gone up. Fuel prices have been very high, as have feed prices. And chickens don't lay as much in the winter.
Another thing...A lot of my friends and neighbors have been complaining about the quality of their chicken feed, particularly laying pellets. Crude analysis may be the same (supposedly), but the feed is not the same quality as they were getting last year. That may be because the mills are mixing in more things like ground cob, etc.
Lastly, slaughter and euthanize have some slightly different connotations. Slaughter usually means the birds are going to be processed. Usually, with older layers, that's dog or cat food. To me, euthanize means mass killing, then burying or incinerating.
@Jolly said in Eggsplanation:
Lastly, slaughter and euthanize have some slightly different connotations. Slaughter usually means the birds are going to be processed. Usually, with older layers, that's dog or cat food. To me, euthanize means mass killing, then burying or incinerating.
Okay, I'm corrected.
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I'll make a country girl outta you, yet.
