Poultry houses have slaughtered millions of chickens in the United States to stop the spread of avian flu. The disease spreads quickly and can contaminate egg production.
This comment section is so sad. Bunch of apartment dwellers and or yuppy subdivision people that moved to the burbs and got some chicks from tractor supply but have no idea what the reality of raising and sustaining really is.
Livestock is different Heaven forbid they have talked to someone that has actually owned a working farm instead of watching youtube. But instead they spout off BS they saw on the interwebs. I'm not surprised, very little will surprise me now but still, these people were supposed to be intelligent but they don't have or exhibit any common sense. Very disappointing
It''s common sense people. At least common sense to people that were raised on a working farm
Thanks for the information. Too bad we no longer have journalism in this country. Apparently, the "conspiracy" is not related to chicken eggs. "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." If you want to end the "conspiracies", rebuild the trust, try honesty and transparency, "free" the press.
I'm worried about you burning yourself out if you're gonna have to write a post about every conspiracy theory the GOP base is going to grasp hold of. Especially since its an election year and Daddy Donny looms
JK. Not making fun of anybody given the multitude of times "bat-sh*t crazy" statements have been validated (ChazAtl's point about Hunter's laptop, for instance). Best to adhere to the old adage "believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see."
IMHO. Eggs suffer from the same lack of information that other groceries do. Too many people think they come from the store. In fact, eggs come from chickens. When the chicken population goes down rapidly, egg production will follow. And as an aside, I’ve owned chickens.
Erick, I'm just happy that you have expanded your agricultural knowledge. If you had been one of those pimply faced boys in a blue corduroy jacket, you would have received some of this basic knowledge of poultry in your high school days, as I did in the late '60's. We learned all about phototropic and diet effects on egg production. Though there were a number of diseases back then, avian flu was unknown. Millions upon millions of chickens have died from the disease in 2022 or have pre-emptively been destroyed to stop the spread.
The egg shortage this winter seems to be due to a "perfect storm" of events. But due to the relatively short reproductive and growth cycle, more chickens can quickly be made.
I learned recently that dairy farmers produce butter per their normal production cycles and butter goes to large cold storage sites for public distribution as our usage demands (ie. we bake more at Thanksgiving & Christmas). This lets us see months in advance any supply-chain issues.
Yesterday I learned that egg production is cyclical and also must use large central cold storage locations. This also gives them plenty of time to look for the causes and set market expectations.
And, I continue to see that the smartest people in the world are sitting in their underwear, eating a snickers bar, while dropping their "fact turds" on unsocial media.
This was all predicted. “ (Matthew 20:2). Thus, it is probably a fact that with the approach of the Apocalypse, the most necessary food will rise in price greatly and the wages earned per day will be enough only for the minimum subsistence for the same day and nothing more.”
“ Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand…”
The third horse is famine.
While this may terrify some it gives me hope. For if this is truly the sign of the end of days Jesus is coming soon.
Good sleuthing. But the government caused the supply chain problems and the feed was altered. So conspiracy confirmed. Bill Gates demands we eat fake manufactured proteins. All this independent egg production is inconvenient to the Wall Street globalist corporatist consolidation project. Or maybe it is just climate change and we need to ban more fossil fuel production to save people from starving.
Just like athletes dropping dead, there is no statistical change in the phenomenon, there is increased exposure to "information", coupled with an increased propensity to believe mythology because of a decrease in actual thinking skills.
The advent of "24 hour" news has perpetuated this because there is not actual "news" 24/7, so much of what they report on is nothing more than the mindless trivia of a morning show.
And I can't tell you how many videos on Facebook my wife watches that look and sound like serious news complete with a fake background and scroller. Instant credibility. Oh, and anyone with a foreign accent just sounds intelligent.
I have had “backyard chickens” since 2011. I presently have only 12 laying hens (Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, two “rescue” Americaunas and two “rescue” Rhode Island Reds.) I use a pen known as a “chicken tractor:” it’s a pen on wheels that I move every day or two. I noticed that the feed composition seemed to be “different” weeks ago - before all this controversy. However, I didn’t freak out because I know that feed is made from different ingredients, and, remembered that when I worked on a Morgan County, GA dairy, back in my mid-90’s, Moor Mans Feed would “tweak” the “energy mixed ration” feed and “sweet feed” every few weeks, depending on seasonal availability and market conditions. I assumed that the chicken feed producers were now doing the same thing, based on what components they could get at certain prices. The war in Ukraine might also be having an impact, because many of the ag products grown in that part of the globe have been reduced.
Yet you somehow missed the part where I was talking about you calling people names and jumped to a conclusion that I and all those who were wondering about the egg issue were not making a claim that something was deliberately contaminating food. Just jumped right in there and called everyone a liar and conspiracy theorist. Because in this country, there has never been a recall on people food or animal food due to contamination. Certainly we have never had a recall on baby formula due to contamination. So the idea that food for chickens COULD be contaminated is the work of liars and conspiracy theorists. My entire freaking point is that people should not be called names because you happen to both not agree and not understand their concerns. Did anyone take the time to see if it seems to be a particular brand of food that may be suspect? Did anyone test any of it? I don't even consider my chickens not laying well right now to be a problem because they aren't out of norm particularly. But we can turn on any TV and hear ourselves called names by politicians and media people so it would be bloody nice if we could pay money to read and listen to someone on the same general political side and not hear ourselves called the same names. You are the "friend" who can't be critical of a friend, without using the same words as the enemy.
A few weeks ago I asked a reader who runs a large commercial egg farm. He said (quote):
“This strain of HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) was very infectious, killed the birds quickly and was extremely hard to protect against as there is no globally accepted vaccine. Due to intense biosecurity efforts put into place following the industry losses in 2015, the remaining infection vectors are very difficult to manage or control. And, this is a constantly mutating virus, so we do not know what the spring migration will bring. All that said, barring any reoccurrence this spring, egg prices will return to normal levels by mid to late summer based on current populations and hatchery capacity. “
“It is interesting to note, prior to Covid, there was media attention given to the possibility of global pandemics (vs current endemic). The potential remains for a very serious Hx Nx poultry virus to jump species in wet market environments in China and elsewhere in the world. Prior to Covid, the fact it had not yet occurred gave a sense of assurance it would not. I am not an alarmist, and the probability is still very low, but the possibility of a species jump may be equal to that lurking asteroid(s) we are spending time and treasure to find and solve before hitting us in the future. “
“Lastly, folks who are considering putting in backyard flocks only to “save money” on their egg purchases really need to do the long term math. The numbers do not work in their favor plus they are added additional vectors for future HPAI infections as they are typically outdoors and therefore very susceptible to exposure to disease carrying wild birds.”
This comment section is so sad. Bunch of apartment dwellers and or yuppy subdivision people that moved to the burbs and got some chicks from tractor supply but have no idea what the reality of raising and sustaining really is.
Livestock is different Heaven forbid they have talked to someone that has actually owned a working farm instead of watching youtube. But instead they spout off BS they saw on the interwebs. I'm not surprised, very little will surprise me now but still, these people were supposed to be intelligent but they don't have or exhibit any common sense. Very disappointing
It''s common sense people. At least common sense to people that were raised on a working farm
Fair & balanced report. Thanks. //s//multi-decade chicken owner. :)
Thanks for the information. Too bad we no longer have journalism in this country. Apparently, the "conspiracy" is not related to chicken eggs. "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." If you want to end the "conspiracies", rebuild the trust, try honesty and transparency, "free" the press.
I'm worried about you burning yourself out if you're gonna have to write a post about every conspiracy theory the GOP base is going to grasp hold of. Especially since its an election year and Daddy Donny looms
I blame the Knights Templar....
JK. Not making fun of anybody given the multitude of times "bat-sh*t crazy" statements have been validated (ChazAtl's point about Hunter's laptop, for instance). Best to adhere to the old adage "believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see."
IMHO. Eggs suffer from the same lack of information that other groceries do. Too many people think they come from the store. In fact, eggs come from chickens. When the chicken population goes down rapidly, egg production will follow. And as an aside, I’ve owned chickens.
Erick, I'm just happy that you have expanded your agricultural knowledge. If you had been one of those pimply faced boys in a blue corduroy jacket, you would have received some of this basic knowledge of poultry in your high school days, as I did in the late '60's. We learned all about phototropic and diet effects on egg production. Though there were a number of diseases back then, avian flu was unknown. Millions upon millions of chickens have died from the disease in 2022 or have pre-emptively been destroyed to stop the spread.
The egg shortage this winter seems to be due to a "perfect storm" of events. But due to the relatively short reproductive and growth cycle, more chickens can quickly be made.
Go FFA!
I’ve had chickens for a year and have had no problem with egg production. They may not lay every day, but I get a pretty consistent supply.
Waiting for climate activists' "Chicken Little" sky is falling reaction... 😉
I learned recently that dairy farmers produce butter per their normal production cycles and butter goes to large cold storage sites for public distribution as our usage demands (ie. we bake more at Thanksgiving & Christmas). This lets us see months in advance any supply-chain issues.
Yesterday I learned that egg production is cyclical and also must use large central cold storage locations. This also gives them plenty of time to look for the causes and set market expectations.
And, I continue to see that the smartest people in the world are sitting in their underwear, eating a snickers bar, while dropping their "fact turds" on unsocial media.
Cheers
Not saying it’s true. But over the past two years may conspiracy theories have become factual. Hunters laptop is one.
Doesn’t mean every crazy theory is ultimately true. Just means it’s ok for people to question. If it’s a nothing burger then it’s nothing.
This was all predicted. “ (Matthew 20:2). Thus, it is probably a fact that with the approach of the Apocalypse, the most necessary food will rise in price greatly and the wages earned per day will be enough only for the minimum subsistence for the same day and nothing more.”
“ Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand…”
The third horse is famine.
While this may terrify some it gives me hope. For if this is truly the sign of the end of days Jesus is coming soon.
Can’t come soon enough for me.
Good sleuthing. But the government caused the supply chain problems and the feed was altered. So conspiracy confirmed. Bill Gates demands we eat fake manufactured proteins. All this independent egg production is inconvenient to the Wall Street globalist corporatist consolidation project. Or maybe it is just climate change and we need to ban more fossil fuel production to save people from starving.
Just like athletes dropping dead, there is no statistical change in the phenomenon, there is increased exposure to "information", coupled with an increased propensity to believe mythology because of a decrease in actual thinking skills.
The advent of "24 hour" news has perpetuated this because there is not actual "news" 24/7, so much of what they report on is nothing more than the mindless trivia of a morning show.
And I can't tell you how many videos on Facebook my wife watches that look and sound like serious news complete with a fake background and scroller. Instant credibility. Oh, and anyone with a foreign accent just sounds intelligent.
I have had “backyard chickens” since 2011. I presently have only 12 laying hens (Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, two “rescue” Americaunas and two “rescue” Rhode Island Reds.) I use a pen known as a “chicken tractor:” it’s a pen on wheels that I move every day or two. I noticed that the feed composition seemed to be “different” weeks ago - before all this controversy. However, I didn’t freak out because I know that feed is made from different ingredients, and, remembered that when I worked on a Morgan County, GA dairy, back in my mid-90’s, Moor Mans Feed would “tweak” the “energy mixed ration” feed and “sweet feed” every few weeks, depending on seasonal availability and market conditions. I assumed that the chicken feed producers were now doing the same thing, based on what components they could get at certain prices. The war in Ukraine might also be having an impact, because many of the ag products grown in that part of the globe have been reduced.
I have had it. You don't listen.
I actually do listen and listened to a great many farmers, vets, scientists, and agriculture specialists. 
Yet you somehow missed the part where I was talking about you calling people names and jumped to a conclusion that I and all those who were wondering about the egg issue were not making a claim that something was deliberately contaminating food. Just jumped right in there and called everyone a liar and conspiracy theorist. Because in this country, there has never been a recall on people food or animal food due to contamination. Certainly we have never had a recall on baby formula due to contamination. So the idea that food for chickens COULD be contaminated is the work of liars and conspiracy theorists. My entire freaking point is that people should not be called names because you happen to both not agree and not understand their concerns. Did anyone take the time to see if it seems to be a particular brand of food that may be suspect? Did anyone test any of it? I don't even consider my chickens not laying well right now to be a problem because they aren't out of norm particularly. But we can turn on any TV and hear ourselves called names by politicians and media people so it would be bloody nice if we could pay money to read and listen to someone on the same general political side and not hear ourselves called the same names. You are the "friend" who can't be critical of a friend, without using the same words as the enemy.
A few weeks ago I asked a reader who runs a large commercial egg farm. He said (quote):
“This strain of HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) was very infectious, killed the birds quickly and was extremely hard to protect against as there is no globally accepted vaccine. Due to intense biosecurity efforts put into place following the industry losses in 2015, the remaining infection vectors are very difficult to manage or control. And, this is a constantly mutating virus, so we do not know what the spring migration will bring. All that said, barring any reoccurrence this spring, egg prices will return to normal levels by mid to late summer based on current populations and hatchery capacity. “
“It is interesting to note, prior to Covid, there was media attention given to the possibility of global pandemics (vs current endemic). The potential remains for a very serious Hx Nx poultry virus to jump species in wet market environments in China and elsewhere in the world. Prior to Covid, the fact it had not yet occurred gave a sense of assurance it would not. I am not an alarmist, and the probability is still very low, but the possibility of a species jump may be equal to that lurking asteroid(s) we are spending time and treasure to find and solve before hitting us in the future. “
“Lastly, folks who are considering putting in backyard flocks only to “save money” on their egg purchases really need to do the long term math. The numbers do not work in their favor plus they are added additional vectors for future HPAI infections as they are typically outdoors and therefore very susceptible to exposure to disease carrying wild birds.”
It’s a knowledge issue not a conspiracy.