Sunday Musings goes above and beyond to help its faithful readers in their time of need. At least as far as the egg shortage goes. Let’s consider the pros and cons of ways to ensure you can get eggs during the current avian flu-triggered shortage…
Have you considered renting some chickens to ensure you can get eggs during the
avian flu crisis? Remember… There is no nutritional difference between
white white and brown eggs. Nor are free-range or organic eggs
any more or less nutritious than coop-laid eggs…
Eggs are being recalled by the hundreds of thousands almost daily across the US. And new outbreaks of avian flu – even in cattle – are being reported. It appears that egg shortages and unprecedented high prices for the eggs that are available will continue for months to come. And rebuilding can’t even begin until the flu epidemic is declared over.
What it means
The US Department of Agriculture predicts the price of eggs will increase by a further 20 percent over the course of this year as the avian flu crisis continues to ravage commercial flocks. Prices could, in fact, rise an additional 20 percent by the end of 2025. What does this portend for American consu-mers?
The situation has already caused a shortage of fresh eggs across large parts of the US. Everywhere, eggs are disappearing from the shelves completely, for greater or lesser periods of time. The direct result of shortages has been never-before-seen price hikes that have left consumers and small bus-inesses wondering how to compensate.
Family shoppers can simply decide to eliminate eggs from their home-cooking menus for the during. Or at least wait until prices moderate. But small, independent bakeries, restaurants and foodservice operations are in a much worse position.
Rough egg-quivalents
You may be able to substitute Small or Medium eggs for Large, depending in where you live and where your eggs usually come from. On that basis, eggs-perts say a rough equivalent of 2 small to one large works well when preparing eggs for eating at meals. But – as my instructors at culinary school were fond of reminding us – baking is chemistry, and more-accurate measurements will be needed to ensure that recipes come out right.
The Egg Producers of Alberta have come up with an equivalents chart that should provide all the information you need.
One more option
I hadn’t realized it, but there is one more way to ensure you can get at least some eggs during the avian flu crisis. An outfit called Rent The Chicken will do just that… Rent you a pair of hens and a coop, and supply feed and an instruction booklet. They serve more than two dozen states as well as two Canadian provinces.
Their rental set-up is designed to provide a dozen eggs a week. Prices vary, but the company says the deal works out to about $20 per package per week. That’s about $1.66 per egg. But you’ll still have access to eggs, and they’ll be as fresh as they can possibly be!
Caveats…
Chicken experts tell us the average commercial laying hen can be expected to produce 5 or 6 eggs every 7 days. And that’s just a reliable estimate, based on optimum conditions and diet, not a guar-anteed total. As well… Some will probably be small- or medium-sized eggs, not the most desirable Grade A Large.
You must be prepared to give the chickens the attention they require to ensure they thrive and pro-duce as expected. And you should check with your municipality to ensure the bylaws allow you to keep ‘backyard’ chickens where you live.
It’s also imperative to plan for keeping your chicken coop somewhere warm enough, and out of se-vere weather, if you live in the north.
And you’ll need to ensure your chickens are safe from predators including domestic cats and dogs, as well as wild animals such as skunks, raccoons and other egg-loving predators.
My take
Renting chickens for eggs implies a significant commitment in time, effort and management of their accommodations.
My questions for you:
Are you prepared to make the commitment required to keep chickens?
Is a dozen eggs a week sufficient to satisfy your requirement for eggs?
Muse on that…
~ Maggie J.