Anybody hear that egg prices are going up

It really is amazing - the premium egg prices for farm fresh free range eggs. I was astonished at first, but then realized that our butcher has been selling eggs for $6.50/doz and he sells out practically as quickly as they are delivered. All those city folks really can taste the difference.

I am glad the legislation passed. What was acceptable before was just plain animal cruelty, no two ways about it. I just wish it'd pass everywhere, not just for those who sell eggs in CA. Hens in battery cages had about 69 square inches, so picture a filing cabinet drawer with 8-10 hens in it. That's just miserable. Now each hen will have something like 116 square inches, or about 10.8"x10.8". That's better, but still way too cramped, IMO.

They say eggs will increase in price an average of $.27/doz. That's certainly affordable for most people in this country. I can't even believe people were finding eggs for $.99/doz...that's just incredibly dirt cheap.

If I had to buy store eggs, I'd gladly pay the increased price if it meant those poor hens could have the little bit of extra space. Luckily I have chickens, so I don't usually need to buy eggs, unless I buy white eggs at Easter to dye them. And now maybe people won't think it's so outrageous that I charge $3.50 when I sell eggs...and that barely covers feed costs.

I guess I look at it from a logical standpoint. Sure, it would be great if all eggs for everyone could come from chickens happily running around in the grass eating bugs & worms & spreading their wings. There is just no way enough eggs could be produced to feed everyone. I lived on a layer farm as a kid & it wasn't as bad as everyone likes to make it sound.

I am now just waiting for the same type of laws to be passed concerning hogs or even cattle. People complain about the price of groceries now, yet continue to try to pass laws that will only make the prices even worse. To raise enough food to feed everyone, it needs to be done in certain ways. I don't advocate animal abuse, but I don't see hens in a cage with food & water in front of them 24/7 as abusive.

I'm happy I am able to raise my own, but not everyone can do that & if people want affordable prices then things have to be done in ways that are not always as pleasant as you'd like to see. It's just a fact. Kind of like the horse slaughter thing. That did more harm to horses than it helped. Sometimes people that think they know everything & what's good for certain situations, really don't.

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Don't you think it is possible things have changed since you were a kid? Did your family keep 8-10 hens in a cage the size of a filing cabinet drawer? Would you ever even dream of doing that to your own hens?

I realize that all animals can't live wonderful lives out on pasture. I also realize we humans have the ability and responsibility to make sure they are treated humanely. I'm in no way a PETA supporter, but I at least feel that animals should not be treated like robots and denied even the ability to stretch their wings, for pete's sake.

At least cattle in feed lots can turn around, and at least feeder pigs can move around a bit. I'm not a fan of gestation crates though. And I don't agree that horse slaughter was banned in the US, where we could at least make sure horses were treated humanely during transport and at the facility. Now they're shipped out of the country and treated who knows how badly.

I just don't think it's right to deprive animals of basic things like movement, just so we can save $.20 on a dozen eggs.

What a lovely flock!

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I've been running in circles and think I can see myself up ahead!

Well you haven't seen many cattle feed lots or hog confinement operations. I don't think things have changed that much since I was a kid. We kept 5 hens in a cage. While they may not have been able to stretch their wings, they could certainly move around & if you went in the building you heard clucking hens that didn't sound all unlike what I hear from mine now. If they weren't able to move they wouldn't have been able to get to their food or water. I think for the most part it is a bunch of nosey nellies that have no idea what they are talking about. It might not be the ideal situation, but it is by no means animal abuse in my opinion. Abuse to me is lack of food or basic care. Animals with sores on them or injuries not taken care of. Not being able to stretch their wings isn't abuse the way I see it. Cows in feed lots don't get the chance to lay down in the grass. Pigs in confinement don't get the chance to root in the dirt, a thing that comes naturally to pigs. Is that abuse? I guess everyone has their opinion of abuse & that's where a lot of these laws come into play. This board in particular has had several threads on the high price of beef. Could you imagine what it would be like if similar laws were passed regarding cattle or hogs. I think it will just be a matter of time before it happens.

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Yeah, nosey nellies who have no idea what they're talking about. And these hens look perfectly happy and healthy, don't they? They're just as happy as my hens who are running around on grass.

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Yep that's the way the ones I just got look. Nekked necks.

Oh, that is so sad, glad they will finally have a happy outdoors life at your farm Bill!!

That's not to say all of them look that way. Ours never looked that bad. You shouldn't judge all layer farms by a few bad pictures from some. I have seen some pretty dirty dairy farms & some pretty nice ones. I would never try to pass some law that would harm all dairy farms just because some of them are bad. Most people on here would like less government intrusion & don't like being told they need to follow certain laws or regulations, raw milk being one off the top of my head. Passing laws like these harm the people that aren't doing anything wrong also. I'm not sure I agree with that. I don't think everyone should be punished just because some do not care for thier animals the way they should. Would you like someone coming & telling you how to care for your animals? My chickens free range all day & I still have some that don't look so good. The roosters must like them best. It is a slippery slope when we keep passing more & more laws because someone somewhere decided they don't like how things are being done. This could apply to all sorts of things.

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By the way, how is making sure they have room to stretch their wings going to make their life any better? They are still in a cage afterall. Not much different than animals in a zoo. I have been watching a documentary & the amount of land a tiger would roam is about 50 times larger than the pen they are kept in at a zoo. Yet somehow people think it's perfectly ok to keep them confined to such a small area. Not natural for them at all. Where's the outcry for those animals? It isn't natural for them to have their meals brought to them. They would be much happier hunting their prey I'm sure. You can argue all you want about how cruel the chicken confinement is, but not anymore cruel than any other animal kept in a pen or a cage.

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Really? I'm not sure this is worth discussing anymore.

If it were not for the laws, there would have been some other reason to raise the prices, and it really does not matter what the rules are, the big producers will just increase their capacity within the compliance, and squeeze a few more small producers out. They do not care because they can pass the cost of to the consumer, especially the subsidized consumers.

As far as the mistreatment of animals for factory farms, the only solution there is to stop buying their products. For those that can not do so, well they will have to do what they can, but crying to the government to make more laws only means they will soon be after your chickens too, or cows, or whatever. Only way to win is to not play the game.

Is it bad for the chicken, hell yes it is bad for them, in some ways, even worse for the consumer, as the feed they give them is so loaded with additives needed just to keep those chickens alive long enough to break even on them. They are just chickens after all, just like they are just cattle, or any other animal. You like those clothes you bought, or maybe you bought a nice wool rug for two hundred dollars on sale, let me tell you that was not made by well paid artist, it was made by a twelve year old that eats and sleeps tied to the loom. We humans have some ---- dumb ideas and like to go around with blinders on and state all kinds of things we think would be great, and yet we complain about the price of eggs. You want free range eggs, go out and buy them. Sure the small farms could not supply all the eggs but can you imagine what the price would be if they had to try. That is supply and demand. Industry has learned to use scale to negate the supply and demand issue, in fact we way over produce and that is part of the reason we have time to sit around thinking up rules for others to follow.

Too much time on our hands, too many people living too long of lives, and way too many people thinking they know what is best for everyone else. Corporate greed is not the problem, because if we just stop buying their stuff, it does not matter how much they want to sell and at what price, if they have no buyers, they have no profit.

This is just a prime example of what happened, while I was sleeping again.

Well the truth is - the chickens organized and all joined a union - they threatened to stop laying unless they got better working conditions - as a result management had to give in and now the space for each chicken has to be bigger - but as things go in time the chickens will want more and more - pension, healthcare, vacation .etc and the price of eggs will fly off the roof - then more and more Chinese companies will be shipping eggs to the U.S. because the price will be a lot lower - people will either eat Chinese eggs, buy the high priced eggs or raise their own - but eventually the government will get after the people who raise their own with regulations and then eggs will even go higher in price - so at the end you can't win unless you stop eating eggs -

Then there will be a black market for eggs - the mop will get involved and will be raising eggs in barns hidden away somewhere - pretty much like booze was during prohibition - instead of paying off debts with cash you will be paying off in eggs - so all I can say - make mine over easy -

I have loyal egg customers and they happily pay $4.00 per dozen for our free range eggs and in the winter we supplement with wheat fodder. The right customers do not paying more.

My saying is that I'm not in the convincing business, I will educate on the benefits of eating healthy food but if they think my eggs or raw honey cost to much I tell them to go to the grocery store and get the crappy stuff.

We recently gave all our chickens and guinea birds to a friend that needed them and thought we could use a winter with no birds to protect from the coyotes and started buying safeway and walmart eggs again (I know) anyhow I been buying for 2.19 for 18ct of eggs and in the last few months I am now paying 3.49 per 18ct. So I would say yes eggs are flying up in price.

How are you liking the taste of those? I can't eat them. Too spoiled with my golden yolk, free range eggs.

$1.30/dozen large at the grocery just down the road. Alabama raised eggs, right over in Cullman County. Freshest eggs in town until my friend's chickens start to lay again and I get free range ones.

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Can Opener Red Alert!!

It is possible to produce enough eggs and still remain humane. It simply requires more houses. My Dad did it in the 1960s and 1970s. Three aisles built like pole barns (had curtains to let down in bad weather). Each aisle was 300 feet long, housed 19,000 hens (total in all three) and we produced about 50 cases of eggs a day best I recall. Photos were taken around 1975, as you can see the hens are happy and healthy and Dad only let them put 3 to a cage. Each cage was about a foot wide and went back about 3 feet deep so that meant each hen had a square foot of space her own. Photos like the one above make me cringe and glad they are doing something about conditions. More chicken houses = more jobs for people. I would run some in a heartbeat if there was a contractor around here. The county coop was the contractor in Dad's day but they got out of the business. Mississippi used to have a lot of chicken operations but nowdays all that is left are the falling down houses covered in weeds. Have to say, that second photo brings back memories, looks like the second pick up of the day and I was standing at the head of the aisle about to start. That many eggs, it would have taken me about an hour to go down picking up on the right, turn the cart around and come back picking up on the other side on the way back. Built in summer job! Memories.

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Maggie

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That's how our houses looked. AHHHHHHHHHHHH, memories! Only ours were enclosed completely since we have some pretty cold winters in Indiana. Ventilation fans to keep air flowing & temps just right. I kind of miss those days. I spent a lot of time gathering eggs & cleaning. Like a dairy, it had to be done everyday with no breaks. The only time we got a vacation was when we cleared the house out & was waiting for the new flock to come in. Usually only a few days or a week at most.

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