Why you shouldn’t buy a chicken in the courtyard because of the inflation of the eggs

• Egg prices have reached a record level, according to federal government data.
• Some people turn to the backyard chickens, but the experts warn that it is not as easy or cheap as it seems.
• Agricultural rescues are preparing for people who will try to get rid of chickens bought on a whim.

The prices of eggs reaching a top of all time in the United States, the idea of ​​backyard chickens – wandering, grazing on the grass and producing fresh and delicious eggs – becomes more and more attractive.

But it may not be the alert tip of the budget for a certain hope.

The average price at the national level of a dozen grade eggs has large, according to federal data, reached $ 4.95 in January, an increase of almost 20% from December to January. The jump was driven by the flu epidemic of birds, which radically involved the supply of eggs, as well as inflation. The late egg supply has also led certain grocery stores to limit the number of boxes that customers can buy.

Agricultural rescues say that they see an increase in interest in the backyard chickens, which gained popularity during the pandemic and when egg prices increased in January 2023. However, they also say that Many people do not realize how much high support, high and high high support chickens can be, and that many consumers buy chickens for eggs end up trying to get rid of it little time After.

Backyard chickens can be expensive and difficult to take care

“In addition to belly pigs, calls for chickens and roosters are the most frequent calls we receive,” Business Business Insider, co -founder of Farm Animal Refuge in San Diego, California told Business. “People get chickens mainly for egg production, then a few things happen. The first is that they do not have the appropriate configuration and they get a predator attack.”

Chickens can be practical by creatures commonly found in American backyards, such as coyotes, hawks, raccoons or opossums. Someone can buy a simple chicken coop in the same farm store from where they buy chicks, but it can be too small as chickens grow or not adequately protective against predators.

Appropriate housing for backyard chickens can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars, potentially run much higher than grocery eggs, even with record prices.

There are also costs associated with the backyard chickens which may not be clear forward towards a beginner, such as current food costs and unexpected medical invoices due to chickens requiring specialized veterinarians and being Risk of health complications that may require continuous treatment or medicine.

Farm Sanctuary, which has locations in New York and Los Angeles, said that the backyard chickens made up the majority of the requests for placement of the animals they receive.

“Many tutors who contact us to obtain help are new in the management of a flock of backyard and are badly prepared for the challenges of life care. In some cases, they undergo Cons up the challenges associated with the protection of birds against predation, the expenses involved, the difficulties of winter care, or the general level of care and engagement, “Ashley Pankratz, principal director of rescue and placement of FARM Sanctuary, said in a press release provided to BI.

Pankratz has also noted that the backyard chickens are not necessarily the answer for people who consider it a more human way of egging eggs, the addition of chicks often comes from the same installations which provide farms of farms factory.

Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, also spoke out against the role of industrial agriculture in the bird flu epidemic. “Our irresponsible industrial agriculture system is a reproductive ground for diseases like bird flu and places both humans and other animals,” he told Bi in a press release.

Complicated by the fluid epidemic of birds

Many people do not realize that it could take four to six months for chicks, which are often bought in place of adult chickens, to start laying eggs, or that they will only produce eggs for a few years And will live much longer than that.

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“The same thing happened in 2020, when everyone entered quarantine and decided that they were going to Homestead,” said the place of people who rushed to buy chickens and actually realizing that C ‘was a bad idea.

This time, the problem is aggravated by the bird flu epidemic, because sanctuaries and farm animals cannot accommodate new birds due to the risk of propagation of the disease, which means that People looking to get rid of their backyard chickens may not have much options.

“This is another enormous problem with everyone who comes out and buy these chicks at the moment – they are potentially moving from this disease to places that it has not been before,” said Lieticle.

Location has declared that he doubts all responsible agricultural sanctuaries could accommodate new birds in the near future.

Some people think they buy hens and end up with roosters

Another challenge with the purchase of backyard chickens is that you can involuntarily end up with a rooster.

Determining the sex of chicks can be difficult, and stores often sell a group of small hens that really contain a rooster.

“When you buy baby chicks, they tell you that they are women, then six to eight weeks later, one of them begins to sing and that your neighbors complain,” said it, adding that The refuge of farm animals often hear people looking to get rid of roosters.

Pankratz of the farm sanctuary also said that they “received daily requests to accommodate roosters that are not desired, abandoned or presented to shelters”.

In addition to not producing eggs, the roosters are also illegal or strongly limited in many jurisdictions where egg -weighted hens are authorized. They can be difficult to renovate for similar reasons.

Kelly Rutkowski, the founder of the adoption in Bird Network, said that roosters represent a “big problem of animal welfare”. Its organization serves as an intermediary between people who wish to adopt chickens and rescues, sanctuaries or shelters looking for a place to place them.

Rutkowski said that hens are easy to place with people who just like to keep them as pets, and that they are generally adopted the same days that she publishes them online, but the roosters are much more difficult.

“There are people who consider them more than egg machines and see them for their personality,” she said. But even these people can live in places that make illegal or impractical to have a rooster around. She tries to discourage people from buying backyard chickens on a whim, to avoid having more roosters without nowhere.

“It worries me,” said Rutkowski about the high egg prices and the increase in people who buy chicks. “I’m just waiting for all birds to start presenting themselves in shelters, especially roosters.”

Do you have a tip or a personal story to share? Contact this journalist at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.