As egg prices climb, more Oregonians take a crack at raising backyard chickens

When the phone rings at Burns Feed Store in Gresham, nine out of 10 times, it’s someone asking about chicks, Shelley Burns-Giusto said.

“This year specifically has been crazy,” she said. “Because, people who have birds want more birds. People who haven’t done birds want to do birds. So you have a combination of all the people wanting birds.”

Burns-Giusto, whose family has owned a farm and garden supply store for more than six decades, said last week’s batch of 600 chicks was already sold out before it even got to the store, and they’re sold out for at least the next few weeks.

While this is the time of the year when local hatcheries and farm supply stores begin taking orders for chicks, mostly from people looking to raise them as egg-laying backyard hens, Burns-Giusto said this year has been a lot busier.

“The last couple years I would call it normal,” she said. “This year every single person that calls wants birds. The amount of birds that I got compared to last year – I’m sold out for weeks. Or there’s one breed where I’m sold out the whole entire year, and that’s not normal.”

Egg prices at the grocery store have more than doubled compared to last year. In January, prices jumped 15% from the previous month, leading to a record-high national average price of $4.95 for a dozen of Grade A eggs. At some grocery stores they’re selling for much more than that. Even for shoppers who don’t mind paying the higher price, some grocers aren’t able to keep their egg cases fully stocked because of ongoing shortages.

Burns-Giusto believes that’s prompting some people to take a crack at raising their own backyard egg-laying hens. Something similar happened during the peak of the COVID pandemic, when many people were working from home, and some staples like meat and eggs were harder to come by. Google search trends for “backyard chickens” have also gone up over the last month.

Farmers losing chickens to bird flu

Nationwide, over 160 million commercial poultry birds have been culled because of avian influenza, or bird flu, since it began making its way across the country in 2022. That includes about 900,000 poultry birds in Oregon, although the state is not a big egg producer compared to its neighbor to the south or the Midwest region.

Last year alone egg farmers lost 38 million hens to the virus. That’s led to egg shortages across the nation at grocery stores and thus to higher prices. It can take at least six months for an egg-laying farm to recover, said Bill Mattos, president of the Northwest Chicken Council.

“In the egg industry, most of their chickens are older, and they’re grown in a large facility,” he said explaining why it may take longer for those farms to recoup their hens.

At least one farm advocacy group, Farm Action, is accusing big egg corporations of colluding to raise prices. That group is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the industry for price gouging.

How cost effective are backyard chickens?

While backyard hens may offer a solution during nationwide egg shortages, it’s unlikely they will save people money.

Bobbi Morris, a Portland resident, has raised backyard chickens for almost a decade. She said there are a lot of upfront costs for someone starting from zero, like a chicken coop, feed, bedding and equipment. Plus it can take about six months before chicks mature and begin laying eggs.

Related: The scramble for backyard chickens in the Rogue Valley

“And then there’s more expensive equipment like electric doors for convenience and stainless steel feeders for convenience and for pest control,” she said. “It’s difficult to quantify your time, effort and energy into how that helps with egg prices.”

Then there are also other scenarios to consider, Morris said, like what happens if your chick turns out to be a rooster – which are prohibited within most city limits. Some people rehome them elsewhere, while others look for cooking ideas.

Chickens might also not lay as many eggs during winter or when they get older – most chicken breeds begin to slow down on laying eggs after about three years, but they can live for much longer than that.

“When egg prices go back down and you still have your chickens and you’re still feeding them, it’s questionable whether or not you saved money to get you over a hump of egg prices for a few months,” Morris said.

But while raising hens solely for their eggs may not save someone money, Morris, who jokingly calls herself a crazy chicken lady, said they’re fun animals to have around, and can make for pleasant backyard companions.

“Chickens are a bit addictive. Once you have some, it seems across the board you always want more,” she said.

Morris said chickens all have their own personalities too. Some might be more aggressive than others, or shy or more curious than others.

“For us they’re pets with a bonus,” she said. “The cat I used to have did not pay me back in any way, shape or form for its care and upkeep, whereas the chickens do provide for us.”

Shelley Burns-Giusto said she suspects the downsides of having chickens might not deter people, and expects the phone to keep ringing.

“I would just say be patient with people when you go places to get birds, because it’s very exciting but it’s also challenging at the same time,” she said.