Price of Eggs by Fall 2022...

There is no bird flu down under, but  input costs, feed, transport electricity etc...  price of eggs has gone to outrage proportions

Buse negotiation with the company that I work for to get a 10 acre property, to get chickens going.


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10797335/Woolworths-Shocking-picture-supermarket-shelf-sparks-outrage-eggs-cost-14-50.html

At the beginning of the Avian Flu outbreak eggs went up to as high as $6 a dozen in the supermarkets here. There also were times when they disappeared from shelves all together. As of my shopping trip yesterday the stock was back up and the going price about $2 a dozen with organic and free range eggs running much higher.

That being said at the local farm store chicks were in short supply this spring from the hatcheries and running $7-$9 each for pullet chicks with straight run cheaper. There were not as many breed choices as in years past and the supply in store were not as  healthy as I have seen either.

Scratch grain has went up about $3 per 50 pound sack and running about $18. Laying mash $20 per 50 pound sack. Flock food high protein is running about $22 a 50 pound sack. 

That being said my own personal chicken flock has remained healthy and productive and I also have a steady supply of duck eggs. I have had a couple calls from people offering to buy my chickens. There seems to be somewhat of a shortage of birds. 

Our middle sprout has decided that when we move he'd like a couple of silkie bantam chooks. We'll be in a residential area, although far less built up than where we are now. There should be enough room for two and while they absolutely won't provide enough eggs for a family of five I think it'll be a good place to start to learn the ropes as they seem to be lovely little hens. Two small eggs a day if we're lucky will be good enough to do a bit of baking every few days. Any less than that and well, frankly they're cute and sweet enough that I wouldn't mind keeping a couple just as pets.

I considered suggesting quails because you get far more food per square meter, but he really wants silkies because they're cute. Fair enough. One bird type at a time for now. Quails will be more likely in the future though. The eggs are tiny but when you've got a whole bunch of them that's not really as big of a problem. And of course, you get to eat quails as well!

In Australia foxes are the main problem. It's not difficult to keep them out of the coop if you build it right. The biggest risk is when a chicken decides it will sleep/lay eggs under a bush sometimes and doesn't return to the coop.

When we raised game birds they were raised in large hoop houses with wire sides and soft flight mesh on top. They were being sold to hunting preserves so they had to fly. Both pheasant and quail were huge targets of birds of prey. Hawk, owls and even eagles. The hawks were amazing to watch one would perch on top of the mesh on a metal bow waiting and the other would flush the birds to fly to the top of the pen then the one waiting on top would catch the bird through the mesh and eat off whatever it could through the mesh. It was nothing to go out in the mornings and pick up birds missing heads and wings. The bad part was that there was little that could be done to prevent it because birds of prey are protected species in the states. 

We lost a lot of quail to snakes also.