Here and There "Ppiyak Ppiyak"... Raising Chicks in the US as Egg Prices Rise

Increase in Households Raising Laying Hens
Surge in Google Searches for 'Chick Rearing'

As egg prices soar in the United States, more consumers are raising chickens themselves to obtain eggs. This has led to a surge in demand for laying hens.

On the 2nd (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT), Ginger Stevenson, an executive at McMurray Hatchery in Iowa, said, "The chick breeds that lay a lot of eggs have already been sold out."

This appears to be a phenomenon caused by an increasing number of households purchasing chicks to raise as laying hens. He added, "Last month, there were even 242 visitors waiting to buy chicks."

[Image source=Pixabay]

Other hatcheries are experiencing similar situations. Megan Howard, sales manager at Meyer Hatchery in Ohio, said, "People are very concerned about food security," adding, "Many breeds were already sold out last summer due to rising egg prices." Currently, this hatchery sells chicks of breeds that lay brown eggs for $4 each (about 4,900 KRW).

Interest is growing, as seen by frequent searches for 'raising chicks' on Google. Mandy Croft, who runs an online group for poultry farmers on Facebook, said, "We receive hundreds of new membership requests daily," attributing this to the rise in egg prices.

The media analyzed that behind the inflation are multiple factors intertwined, including supply chain shocks after COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In particular, the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) last year caused egg prices to soar to record levels.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about chicken abandonment. Julia Magnus, founder of Lou Crew in Chicago, which protects abandoned chickens, pointed out, "If people buy chicks in large quantities and egg prices drop again, there could be a nationwide phenomenon of chickens being abandoned," adding, "We are deeply concerned about this issue."

Meanwhile, the NYT reported that although the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has raised the benchmark interest rate eight times over the past year, leading to some easing of inflation, the prices of certain items like eggs are more likely to be influenced in the short term by chance factors such as avian influenza rather than the Fed. It added that food prices are more significantly affected by the Ukraine war, drought, and harvest yields.