Price of Eggs

Where I live (So. Cal.) price of eggs have doubled in last year. Two reasons: 1. Bird flue outbreak 2. Cage size restrictions Law. I quit buying eggs at the grocery store three months ago. I buy them from a friend, he owns a coin shop locally and has a small organic farm out in the country. I bought groceries yesterday, eggs were $4.85 per dozen. I bought a dozen from my friend $3.00 a dozen today, organic free range (not raised in a cage). I keep telling my GF, I'm going to get my own chicken. I really can't as my city passed a ordnance banning chickens two years ago. It was funny when I first bought a dozen of the organic eggs, GF wanted to know why they were brown. After she tried them, she decided they were better and OK (so glad to hear that). Even happier she hates to grocery shop!

The price of eggs is just another example of special interest groups (lobbyist) and politician passing laws, without concern or care about the rest of us!

I think I've showed pixs that my bro and SiL have about 25-30 chickens. They've been up to 3 dozen before and when they're all producing, they get about 2 doz eggs a day. Now they're down in numbers and in the summer" doldrums"--birds coming out of molt, older birds slowing down in laying so they're down to about a doz eggs a day with about 22-25 hens. They're going to get some semi-grown pullets soon instead of raising chicks so they can get their egg count back up fairly fast.

I have about a hoaf a dozen steady customers at work. I've just raised the prices for the first time in 3 years up to about $3 a dozen. Several SD cities are fairly progressive about back-yard birds. In Sioux Falls, a person can have 6 but no roosters. Brookings, which is a university town, also allows chickens in town. But not my uptight anal-retentive bedroom town. I knew a gal who had 3 hens in the triple garage and her neighbor ratted her out and she had to get rid of them. Dam commies...

Here's bro with some of his birds a couple winters back.

It was only that first dozen that had all brown eggs, most are brown but we get white ones too! I have so much fun kidding my GF. Did you know white eggs come from white chickens and brown eggs from the brown ones? Chocolate and strawberry milk? so glad I do the shopping! You gotta love a city girl (I do) they do other things.

$2.49 a dozen yesterday

Hobo - I would be happy to pay $2.49 that was about same price here a year ago, before bird flu and cage law. I don't think the bird flu is as much to blame for high prices in Cal. as there is no outbreak here. It's the cage law, requiring egg producers to change how they raise chickens in Cal., there has always been a large poultry industry here. When I first bought my home here (20+) years ago, there was one of the largest egg producers in the nation 1 mile from my house. Chickens and cows are gone replaced with houses and shopping centers.

$10/ 3 doz flat for cage free eggs at the farmer's market here.

ryanw - What the price per dozen at the grocery stores near you? I'm reading that prices in Bay area are will over $5 per dozen. That's a fair price $3.33 per dozen for cage free eggs.

I'm not sure, they definitely went up for the basic dozen. I want to say they are 3-4 per dozen. The cage free options are 6+ in the store.

Nationally, a "typical" egg only farm selling to grocery stores chains before bird flu had a million or more laying hens in their operations. If you didn't have 250,000 birds at least you had a hard time competing for this market because the margins were so thin. That's one reason you've seen the great rise in very small egg producers, the mega barn layers just weren't producing as good of tasting eggs or people were scared of diseases and other health issue. Interesting note, my SiL on the wife's side and a friend of mine won't eat fresh free-range eggs because the vibrant yellow-orange yolks freak them out (as well as the eggs being fertilized).

The number crunchers & cartographers at the USDA have gone and combined all poultry/egg sales market value in their most recent census of ag (2012 and 2007) so I had to go back to 2002 to get a map of just laying hen numbers. Some of the counties that are lite up with lots of dots represent just a farm or two of industrial egg layers. I suspect the map has changed some this year...

http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publica...0Inventory.gif

I had forgotten what a good natural egg tasted like, GF who loves eating eggs for breakfast likes the organic/cage free eggs. They are larger, with more yoke and taste better. I know chickens with less stress produce better, maybe the cage law will end up producing a better & healthier industry.

we have a few hens left and are looking to replace the ones we butchered due to no loger laying. we just sent in meat birds to be butchered as well. Chicken is a major staple in our diet. Luckily we dont live in the city/village limits and have free will to do pretty much anything..our county/township is agriculture and livestock based and generally leave everyone alone

I myself am not a big egg eater so I don't buy eggs, but I do get free eggs now and then. I like deviled eggs and the other methods of cooking them now and then.

The reason I posted is that I have been reading over this thread and wondered how many of you have found the twin yoke eggs.

I have found a few over the years from the farm raised eggs. They are most times a larger egg, but not always.

Yeah, burt we can only hope but I doubt other states will follow Cali's lead. But if grocery store eggs stay high, I wonder what fairly cheap protein source will replace them for folks without a lot of cash? Eggs are an easy and quick thing to cook and industrial eggs have traditionally been fairly cheap. Americans overall eat more protein than most people in the world but poorer people eat less and more carbos because carbos are cheap. I see more empty calories eaten to make up for less eggs. Probably not a good deal.

In good years in the past, when we've had a lot of deer and antelope meat, I used to be able to donate packages that I had done myself. Now food pantries and shelters won't (can't) take any wild game meat unless it comes through a legimate processing place. I suppose someone might get sick sometime even though I obviously eat what I package. Processing a deer isn't cheap anymore so I don't give meat away like that anymore. I donate to "Sportsmen Against Hunger" when applying for the licenses so they pool resources and a guy might get a donated critter processed that way. I haven't tried to make a claim on one of their tickets though but I support the program. Can donate our over abundant "Canada" geese as well...

I do miss having fresh game meat, I have a uncle who goes elk hunting a lot and gives me lots of elk meat.