ECON Egg prices so high, popular store pulls them from shelves completely

West

Senior
It's really quite a difference, now vs then. In FL at Winn-Dixie a few years ago, large eggs were around $1.29/dozen, IIRC.

So like 4 times higher bare minimum now -- at least. Crazy.

I don't think it's crazy inflation. Mostly availability and demand. I really do think that a combination of big loans and government subsidies for the Maga egg producers artificially lowerd the price to $.99 cents for so many years.

The price should $10 a dozen.
 

bev

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Sometimes I feel bad. With my back being out, we've had to throw out so many eggs this fall and winter. Now that I have had surgery for the pain, I am starting to be able to cook and process food again. I never gave up altogether, but my vegetarian housemate has had a lot of baked eggplant and baked potato suppers in the last few months. She does almost everything else. My job is supposed to be the meals. I froze many of them last fall; thank goodness my freezer keeps things for a time. My chickens had never stopped laying, even when we turned off the lights. Legally they have to be inside an outbuilding which they are, I never get enough eggs when they run around; the cats tend to get the eggs, or the rats do. Now the cats hang outside the run (inside the old building) and eat the rats.

Today I made banana bread with just eggs and no other liquid; tomorrow, I'm hoping to make cookie dough and, later in the week, freeze a few more eggs. My housemate just unburied my Kitchen Aid. It was buried in eggs (lol). I know not everyone can chicken; sometimes they are not that productive (ours aren't always). I also know there have been problems with feed and unexplained chicken deaths (as well as the Bird Flu that keeps us inside). But anyone who can, even if it is two hens in a fancy Yuppie chicken arc, should consider it as they pay for themselves and can be partly fed on table scraps.

What is funny is almost all our birds, except the little Roo, are rescue battery hens. Hens that had been laying a whole year were considered too "unproductive" to continue and destined for rescue or cat food. Even with an egg every other day, six produce more than two people can eat, and some still lay once a day more of the week.

And before anyone asks, we had no one to give the eggs to. We are isolated out here, and most of our friends also keep chickens or have family and neighbors who do. If I had been well enough to go to Middle Ages events, I could have given them away there, but my first one in some time will probably be at towards the end of the month.
I didn’t know you had surgery. I hope it was successful, and that you’ll have a complete recovery.
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
I didn’t know you had surgery. I hope it was successful, and that you’ll have a complete recovery.
Thank you, it was straightforward day surgery, and it was posted in the Community forum. I suspect it would have been a much more serious and drastic operation even a few years ago. But today, my US-trained doctor used a machine to pinpoint and "burn out" the nerves. They can't correct the condition, but they can greatly limit the pain. Several weeks later, I'm still on painkillers but at a much lower dosage and start taking up fairly activities again. My housemate will be gone for seven days the week after next. A local farmer owns and cares for our horses, I gave his young daughter the younger horse in exchange, but they both live here for now. I should be able to feed the cats, dogs, and chickens (who also have long-term feeders and a waterer for backup).

I wanted to add to my post a bit anyway because I suspect that with the new somewhat "yuppie" chicken arcs that look like fancy giant eggs, many people could keep a couple of hens as long as the city doesn't prevent it. It could probably be done even on a balcony as long as the chickens were given a few toys and the arch moved about the balcony, perhaps planting a box of grass or something for them. They are a tad expensive, but no one can complain about their looks, and handy people could easily make a wooden or even a 3D-printed version. If I were making one from scratch, I'd make it slightly larger than the standard ones, with a larger pecking and play area for them. I would also probably add dried mealworms and other live bug replacements to their feed. But two chickens can mean up to two eggs a day and sometimes more with certain breeds in the Spring. That can make a huge difference even if they are used in cooking.
 

Granny Franny

Senior Member
Sometimes I feel bad. With my back being out, we've had to throw out so many eggs this fall and winter. Now that I have had surgery for the pain, I am starting to be able to cook and process food again. I never gave up altogether, but my vegetarian housemate has had a lot of baked eggplant and baked potato suppers in the last few months. She does almost everything else. My job is supposed to be the meals. I froze many of them last fall; thank goodness my freezer keeps things for a time. My chickens had never stopped laying, even when we turned off the lights. Legally they have to be inside an outbuilding which they are, I never get enough eggs when they run around; the cats tend to get the eggs, or the rats do. Now the cats hang outside the run (inside the old building) and eat the rats.

Today I made banana bread with just eggs and no other liquid; tomorrow, I'm hoping to make cookie dough and, later in the week, freeze a few more eggs. My housemate just unburied my Kitchen Aid. It was buried in eggs (lol). I know not everyone can chicken; sometimes they are not that productive (ours aren't always). I also know there have been problems with feed and unexplained chicken deaths (as well as the Bird Flu that keeps us inside). But anyone who can, even if it is two hens in a fancy Yuppie chicken arc, should consider it as they pay for themselves and can be partly fed on table scraps.

What is funny is almost all our birds, except the little Roo, are rescue battery hens. Hens that had been laying a whole year were considered too "unproductive" to continue and destined for rescue or cat food. Even with an egg every other day, six produce more than two people can eat, and some still lay once a day more of the week.

And before anyone asks, we had no one to give the eggs to. We are isolated out here, and most of our friends also keep chickens or have family and neighbors who do. If I had been well enough to go to Middle Ages events, I could have given them away there, but my first one in some time will probably be at towards the end of the month.
I'm sorry to hear about your back, and hope you have a quick, successful recovery. As for the eggs, are there some local folks that might be willing to come and take some off your hands? Not sure of your situation there.

We have some local folks who sell some of their chicken and goose eggs for a little less than the grocery stores, which are starting to come down finally.
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
I'm sorry to hear about your back, and hope you have a quick, successful recovery. As for the eggs, are there some local folks that might be willing to come and take some off your hands? Not sure of your situation there.

We have some local folks who sell some of their chicken and goose eggs for a little less than the grocery stores, which are starting to come down finally.
As I said, sadly, we had no way to do that. Almost everyone out here raises chickens, or their friends and family do. Normally I am at my Middle Ages Club something or other (SCA) at least once a month and could have given them away there. But my housemate is taking a break from the organization, and I wasn't well enough to go, for the same reason I had too many eggs. However, it is one reason I feel bad about them going to waste, but no one I know well enough needed any enough to drive twenty or thirty miles to pick them up. Also, we had no idea it would go on for so long. I had good and bad days, and I still do, but now I have much better good days and can get much more done. But I still have a horse ravaged by years of my beloved Nightwolf's hoarding and my hardworking housemate only to do the bare basics like run the dishwasher (along with chopping wood, feeding animals, all the driving, all the shopping, a 40-hour a week engineering job, etc.). Someday I hope to have a house cleaner again, but we have to find the floors first, and right now, things are not bad enough for most people to take on that kind of work. Even if things get that bad, it is hard to tell what life will be like for anyone at that point. Thankfully, we are well-provisioned. The chickens play a big role in that, and I get a few new ones every year or two.
 

Granny Franny

Senior Member
As I said, sadly, we had no way to do that. Almost everyone out here raises chickens, or their friends and family do. Normally I am at my Middle Ages Club something or other (SCA) at least once a month and could have given them away there. But my housemate is taking a break from the organization, and I wasn't well enough to go, for the same reason I had too many eggs. However, it is one reason I feel bad about them going to waste, but no one I know well enough needed any enough to drive twenty or thirty miles to pick them up. Also, we had no idea it would go on for so long. I had good and bad days, and I still do, but now I have much better good days and can get much more done. But I still have a horse ravaged by years of my beloved Nightwolf's hoarding and my hardworking housemate only to do the bare basics like run the dishwasher (along with chopping wood, feeding animals, all the driving, all the shopping, a 40-hour a week engineering job, etc.). Someday I hope to have a house cleaner again, but we have to find the floors first, and right now, things are not bad enough for most people to take on that kind of work. Even if things get that bad, it is hard to tell what life will be like for anyone at that point. Thankfully, we are well-provisioned. The chickens play a big role in that, and I get a few new ones every year or two.
That's understandable, I hope things get better for you soon. Sounds like you're having a pretty bad rough patch.
 

shane

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Pre-65 dime today is worth $1.61 silver according to...

Up until a few years ago, that was pretty close to what
a dozen eggs might cost before most recent increases.

Panic Early, Beat the Rush!
- Shane
 

West

Senior
Pre-65 dime today is worth $1.61 silver according to...

Up until a few years ago, that was pretty close to what
a dozen eggs might cost before most recent increases.

Panic Early, Beat the Rush!
- Shane

Good point. Not only was a dozen eggs historically about a silver dime up to the 1920s, but even after we went to fiat and clad currency.
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Kroger branded eggs in Memphis have come down a fair bit of late but a doz Large are still 3.75-3.99 as opposed to 1.89-2.16 in mid 2022.

Potatoes (I like hash browns w/ my eggs) are still 1.00/lb± and #2 Diesel (another personal trigger point) is still $4.50+/gal locally.

The same way I blame B Gates for every Computing issue I hear of, I want to personally thank the incumbent POTUS and his Marxist cabal for all the above plus the erosion of out standard of living and retirement security.
 

psychgirl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I am used to paying 5 or 6 bucks per dozen.
I’ve never ever paid that much for a doz eggs!
The fancy brands and organic brands charge that much but I’ve not bought them.


A friend of mine had chickens for awhile. Those eggs were fabulous! But I’ll need to find another source now.
 

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
We have 8 chickens, 7 hens and 1 rooster. We have 9 chicks under a heat lamp to allow to grow before putting in with the other chickens, but in their own fenced in area until they grow sufficiently large enough to fit in with the flock. We feed the chickens and they are safe in a fenced in section of one of the barns.

We collect from 5 to 7 eggs per day and have a surplus which we give to the neighbors. If the new chicks are mainly hens, we will have even a larger surplus of eggs which will we will give to other neighbors.

Texican....
 

SurvivalRing

Rich Fleetwood - Founder - author/coder/podcaster
Eggs hit a high here of $29.35 for a 60 ct carton before Xmas. The last two months, you can get 60 for $12.40…I was flabbergasted to see it at almost $30 for so long.

What I wouldn’t give for a back yard and some chickens right now…
 
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$4.29 for a dozen all natural, free range, no hormones and no antibiotics eggs. Produced locally, sold at one of our real grocery stores in the nearest biggish town. They have gone up a bit in price, but they have never run out and they have scads of the brands of regular eggs they carry, don't know the prices on those.

Rant alert, kind of related...

I have noticed as the chutes narrow that Walmart has become the CNN of the retail business in our nation. They do what they are told to do. If they are told to act as though we have actually developed a coin shortage overnight, they make their self checkout stations all credit, no cash, and tell us they can't get coins from their bank, while the retail stores around them have no such issues.

During Covid they got stupid quick, and pushed the stupid envelope to an extreme where "caution, prevention and mitigation" were concerned, more so than anybody in our neck of the woods, other that Menard's.

If they are told to empty their shelves and make the situation look more dire nationally than it actually is, that's what they do. I can go across the street to Target and find 95% of the things that Walmart wants me to believe are in short supply.

When people begin to tell the Walmart customer service department that all of the other stores in town have kleenex for instance (our Walmart has been out for a month and a half), they tell us that they can't get enough people to stock their shelves because of the Covid aftermath, though they have people stocking their shelves in front of our eyes all day every day with what they do still have. There are a large number of items that they no longer carry at all, in order to make it look that those items are not even being made anymore, because they were told to do so. Those items are available elsewhere, all over town.

Last but not least, Walmart is the only place in town whose egg shelves are empty on a regular basis.

Why Walmart? Because they are powerfully influential, huge, and they are allowed to be huge and/or stay open, for instance, during a pandemic, while the government is closing down their competition, so long as they go along to get along. No different than all of the no talent supposed celebrities making a fortune on TV while carrying water for the government, hence my mention of CNN above. People who shop only at Walmart are every bit as brainwashed as people who watch only CNN.

To a large degree, Walmart is being used psychologically to push an agenda, using contrived circumstances and conditions, because they were told to do so.
The Walmart in town has never had an egg shortage, the entire time. Always has eggs.

Their purchasing schedules/payments to their suppliers, on the other hand, are problematic - however, this issue has been causing blank-spots on the shelving for well over a decade. I have spoken to the store manager in intimate detail about this business/supplier/Walmart payment problem, more times than I can recall. This is an internal Walmart business process issue.

During COVID, TP, alcohol, hand sanitizer, et al (usual suspects) were all in short supply at all of the retailers in the area. Was not exclusive to Walmart.

Not a Walmart apologist, nor do I shop at Walmart, exclusively/frequently. Just noting what I have seen with regards to Walmart.


intothegoodnight
 

Echo 5

Funniest guy on TB2K
Trump wisely wanted to pull our troops from overseas. We need to make America a fortress because the oceans will not protect us from the next war. The world is moving on without us.
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Yup. WM prices here are around $2.65/doz. again. The original article is about two weeks behind the times. In spring-time eggs are plentiful and cheap. The new flocks of pullets are laying.
 

Ractivist

Pride comes before the fall.....Pride month ended.
Just a few years ago, eggs were .49 cents a dozen at Aldi's. Not sure what the future has in store, other than outrageous.
 

Melodi

Disaster Cat
Eggs are helpful as a usually inexpensive source of protein for vegetarians (real vegetarians, not vegans) and meat eaters alike, especially during hard times. This is one reason why having them go up to a higher price than good steak on both sides of the water was rather a shock. During wartime and shortages, they have been rations, but unlike sugar, they were usually affordable. And until recently, most people lived where they could get a couple of hens. During the 2008 crash, the City of Dublin, Ireland, reminded residents that a small number of chickens per household was legal and started pushing those nice-looking (but expensive) arcs and building plans for homemade versions.

Even in the US, many cities are OK with a couple of hens. Unlike mammals, in chickens, a "roo" can "do his duty" snuck in on the weekend, and it lasts for several weeks. Of course, that only matters if you want chicks or have more than three hens. Without a rooster, a group of hens will often have one that stops laying (which you don't want), grows some of the male's secondary sexual characteristics, and may become aggressive. This seems to be an ancient adaptation for life in the wild until a new male emerges and takes her place. Some older breeds of chicken can be hard to tell males from females at first because they both have similar features, again probably an adaptation to living without human protection. When we first arrived, we had second-generation Aracunas right out of the jungle, and they were a handful. Eventually, we gave them to a young couple who could get them down from the barn rafters, where they started nesting. They could fly.

During that 2008 - 2010 period, I wrote a blog called: An Economy of Eggs because eggs became a hidden monetary system based on barter in the countryside. It happened so, naturally and without effort, I did wonder if it was part of an older system that had been popular back when most regular people seldom saw much currency, except once a year when they sold a pig to pay the land-holder or held an odd day job off the farm. Along with it went a lot of trading of tasks that still goes on to some degree though less as the years go by. But arrangements like my household has with "Farmer John," a young horse in exchange for horse care for both of them for as long as he's able, are still reasonably common. It is how people function in a low-money economy, a skill many may have to learn again soon.

Like "cigs" in prison, eggs may play a strong roll in that, at least in the countryside.
 

john70

Veteran Member

Dollar Tree has pulled eggs from store shelves over prices skyrocketing, the company said.


Egg prices have increased by as much as 60% in the last year, prompting the popular discount store to pull eggs over not being able to make a profit, Reuters reported. The majority of merchandise at Dollar Tree sits at $1.25, though the store also has other items for $3 and $5.

"Our primary price point at Dollar Tree is $1.25. The cost of eggs is currently very high," company spokesperson Randy Guiler said, according to the Washington Examiner.

Despite the eggs getting pulled, they will likely return to shelves when "costs are more in line with historical levels."


Dollar Tree operates about 8,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
Consumer egg prices saw a slight dip last month, but still reported a 55% increase in the one-year span from the same month the prior year.

A dozen large Grade A eggs cost an average of $4.21 in February, down from January’s $4.82 average, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

"Wholesale prices continue to rise, which indicates retail egg prices have not peaked. The teetering flock numbers couldn’t come at a worse time for consumers," David Anderson, Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension, Bryan-College Station, told the Poultry Times. "The January USDA egg report showed prices were steady to slightly lower than December, but yearly prices for eggs often peaks each spring due to Easter holiday egg hunts and baking."

Dollar Tree did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.


MAYBE THE EGG PEOPLE CUT CUT OFF DOLLAR TREE FOR NON PAYMENT
 

amarilla

Veteran Member
We don't currently have chickens. A friend of ours has chickens. He was using Purina feed and getting no eggs. Switched feed and got eggs. There are rumors of Purina feed being changed and that's what partially casued the egg shortage. Another friend had the same thing, was using Purina and the chickens stopped laying. He also changed feed and the girls started laying eggs again.
 

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
We don't currently have chickens. A friend of ours has chickens. He was using Purina feed and getting no eggs. Switched feed and got eggs. There are rumors of Purina feed being changed and that's what partially casued the egg shortage. Another friend had the same thing, was using Purina and the chickens stopped laying. He also changed feed and the girls started laying eggs again.
People don't realize that chickens aren't machines. They are seasonal layers, and to avoid them shutting down completely as the daylength shortens, they need artificial intervention with at least 14 hours of light per day. Also, newbies get a REAL false sense of reality in the beginning because pullets lay like gangbusters their first year, sometimes even through the darkest, shortest winter days, but that second year, they will need to molt, which can leave them off laying for a month, and they won't lay through the second winter without extra light. That is why the commercial operations often axe them in their second year.

As far as Purina feed being bad...personally, I'm highly skeptical. Too many other more likely reasons.
 

Jeff Allen

Producer
I've said for years that eggs where too cheap.

They should be about 1/10 the cost of a silver ounce. Though silver should be $100 aounce. So $10 fiat for a dozen eggs is right.

Urbans were fine with cheap food while I was working 100hrs a week at 13….they bitch about factory farms while refusing to pay $1hr for farm labor…..let them eat the crap they demand.

J
 

OldArcher

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We take everything for granted. This is the last generation of immediate expectation. The Bible says in Revelation 6:6,

”And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

This verse is important, for it tells the price for a day’s work. As we see now, with today’s economy, even a hen’s egg is becoming too dear.

Think of the farmer, the rancher, the one who grinds the grain- all have expenses, responsibilities.

I Timothy 5:18 NKJV

“For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.””

If, as happens in many nations and lands, food is taken, confiscated “for the greater good,” leaving the farmer, and the farmer’s region, to starve, perhaps to die.

Do you see anything different today, from thousands of years ago?

Watch the signs of the times, for this has long been foretold. The wise watch, and observe the ant. To do any less, would not be wise.

OA
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
I haven't stopped buying eggs due to price. I told my DH as long as we pay for his premium sports channels then I'll buy what I want from the grocery store.
Well, a dozen large eggs weigh a minimum of 24 ounces. So, you're paying @ $4 a dozen for hgh quality protein the equivalent of a pound and a half of a good steak.

It's still the best deal around.

Summerthyme
 

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I am thankful that we keep our own hens. We usually have too many eggs, which we often gift to neighbors. Needless to say, this makes us pretty popular among said neighbors :-) Last year, I built a nice coop for the hens. I posted pics of it on the board last year.

Eggs are one of the most versatile foods. While most people only fry them, they can be ingredients in a mind-blowing variety of dishes.

Best
Doc
 

NoDandy

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Brilliant idea!
A chicken coop is one of the most expensive start-up expenses when beginning to raise chickens.
Their playset is one of those rigs using 6" timbers, with A Frane on one end, and a double A Frame on the other end, with a platform and steps to climb over. It also has a two story " Fort " playhouse, with a lot of space on ground level. After building the house, when we moved, we brought it all here. Obviously, kids are grown, and no need for it. No grand kids, so thought about making chicken coop with it. It is already close to house, maybe 30 ft or so. Or, maybe a firewood shed. Have other options for firewood, but would like to have eggs. ? ? ? ?

:ld:
 
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