If there's an egg shortage, why isn't there a chicken shortage? A Massachusetts farmer explains.
We are paying record-high prices for eggs. Sometimes you can't find them, or they are limited to one dozen per customer. At the same time, at the same store, you can get chicken breasts or thighs no problem. No supply issues at all.
Denise K. was one of several people who sent an email to WBZ's Question Everything inbox. She asked, "Here's a real head scratcher. Why are eggs so hard to find but there's plenty of chicken to buy?"
Unlike "why did the chicken cross the road?" we figured this would be easy enough to answer. So, we visited Nallie Pastures Farm in Dracut. Owner Stephen Hall became a farmer a decade ago after quitting a boring job in business.
He started with just seven chickens. Now Hall has two pieces of land, 300 hens and 400 more on the way. He's been a busy man selling eggs and meat at his farm and at local farmers' markets.
Why are eggs hard to find?
Who better than a farmer to explain why eggs are hard to find, but there's plenty of chicken to buy?
"It takes 20 weeks to get a chicken to egg-laying age," Hall explained. "The main problem is that it's going to take so long to get that replacement flock."
So when a farm has to destroy egg-laying chickens because of the spread of bird flu, it takes at least five months to get new hens to that egg-laying age again.
It's a formula for trouble. Fewer egg-laying chickens means fewer eggs in the grocery store. Less supply with more demand means higher prices.
But it's not the case for chicken meat. Why? First off, eggs and the chicken meat you buy at the store come from two different kinds of chickens.
Two types of chickens
The chicken breasts, wings and thighs that fill the refrigerators and freezers at Hall's farm come from a "meat" chicken. It's also known as a "broiler", and it's bred differently than a hen.
"A meat chicken is much wider, grows quicker," Hall said.
A broiler is bred for rapid growth. It goes from a little chick to processing in less than two months, so they are very quickly replaced. Because of their short lifespan, there is also less time to be infected with bird flu. Therefore, supply for broiler chickens hasn't been an issue.
Egg-laying chickens, or hens, are far more susceptible to bird flu. According to the USDA, of the 160 million birds that have been killed during the outbreak, 77% of them are egg-laying hens. The hens simply live longer, so they have more exposure.
At Nallie Pastures, egg prices have held at $8 a dozen. Hens there have all remained healthy and business is healthy too.
If you have a question you'd like us to look into, please email questioneverything@cbsboston.com.
