The price of eggs.

My first thought while scrolling through news items and seeing someone report that the cost of a dozen eggs was just shy of $12.00 was that this must be someone’s idea of a yolk.

I checked our local sources which were, comparatively, a bargain. IF, I’ve been told, you can find any on the shelves. These days, eggs are apparently as scarce as hens’ teeth.

Gelson’s:

Whole Foods:

Still, if you look at historical data, current prices would suggest the sky is falling.

We might be better off investing in Fabergé eggs at these price points. The famed “hen egg” is valued at a mere $3 million.

Is inflation to blame? Yes and no. It’s here, and apparently has no plans to depart any time soon. But there is another issue which we looked at in March of 2022. As I noted then, this recent wave of avian flu ruffled my feathers more than most because it was being spread by migratory waterfowl and thus, presented a threat to backyard flocks. According to The Wall Street Journal, 58 million birds have perished or been been culled since the beginning of 2022.

Thus, no surprise that U.S. egg inventories “were 29% lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of 2022”, according to the FDA. WSJ reports that “the price for eggs rose 11.1% last month compared with the month before and was up nearly 60% in December from the prior year, according to Thursday’s consumer-price index…”

Hey, it’s a pittance compared to Fabergé’s Coronation egg, which is said to be worth $18 million:

Does this mean it’s finally time to go out and get your own backyard flock? Well, yes and no. Backyard Poultry Magazine just penned a timely article on that subject which you can access on their Instagram account.

I do not doubt that many people make the math work. I just don’t happen to be one of them. We’re still amortizing the cost of our hen palace twelve years later sooooo…no telling what the real cost is of those three eggs Miss Peggy laid last week. But hey, at least we have some!

Bottom line, the news reports suggest that the situation will ease in February or March when commercial producers bring in young laying hens to replace past losses. In the meantime, I suppose the best advice for us all is that old adage…don’t put all your eggs in one basket.