Everyone knows a puppy isnt for Christmas, its for life. People are now also realizing a chicken isnt just for a cost of living crisis.
The driving factor selling out hatcheries across the States this season is consumers buying their own feathered friends to beat soaring egg prices and increased costs of meat.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of eggs has grown 70% in the last year, and the cost of a whole chicken is up 30% when compared to this time ten years ago.
Consumers are now cutting out the middle man and buying chicks in their droves, hatcheries have said.
Demand has more than doubled for some businesses, which have now sold out for the season and are having to turn away customers.
The increase in demand has been driven by three factors: the price and supply of poultry products, fear over the origin of food, and consumers trying to get a sense of control over their finances in a time of uncertainty.
Thats according to Cloyd Good, a manager at Freedom Ranger Hatchery in Pennsylvania.
He told Fortune: When you do raise chickens yourself you have a handle on the cost. It definitely can be expensive to keep chickens but it can also be a very rewarding process.
When it doesnt pay off financially is when youre buying a cute little chicken coop thats going to cost you $1,200, you put five little pens in there and then every week youre buying the chickens extra goodies. They soon become a pet.
If you are a handy person you can make your own nice little chicken shelter chickens dont take a whole lot. You buy a fortified food and then when you go to give them treats its leftover lettuce from dinner or some other table scraps and fruit and veg peelings. The chicken doesnt care what you paid for the treats, they just love treats.
Goods office sells about 200,000 chicks a week and is continually sold out, even when projections had included surplus stock on the off-chance there was a boom in demand.
Its been a balancing act for hatcheries like Goods to welcome an influx of new customers while keeping their existing clients happy.
He added that some customers have been blindsided by birds selling out earlier than expected.
Those impacted arent just backyarders looking for pet birds but also farm-to-table growers and restaurant suppliers, he said.
Its really hard when youre doing a high volume of sales to know who to save birds for and where to embrace opportunity, he said.
Pets that produce your breakfast
Nilsa Alverezs six chickens have been providing her family of four with 42 eggs a week since they purchased a flock in spring last year.
The East Tennessee mom had always wanted to farm on a small scale but said seeing inflation increase in December 2021 put fire under her boots to start sooner rather than later.
Speaking told Fortune: As soon as I saw inflation increase in December 2021, I felt like it was the right time to prioritize my little farm dream knowing it would also save us money on things we really need sustenance.
The family bought six chicks for $3 each, with the ginger hensdubbed The Golden Girls by the family. Alverez said: I recommend choosing chicks. If your family goes through eggs like water I recommend choosing hens like our golden girls.
Push for self-sufficiency
The issue of egg supply and price has humbled shoppers across the board even Spider-Man had to jump on the chicken-buying bandwagon when the U.K. locked down in March 2020.
Actor Tom Holland revealed he had decided to become the source of eggs because he couldnt get hold of any in the supermarkets, and bought two chickens for his backyard.
The price issue has shocked consumers into trying to be more self-sufficient, said Cackle Hatcherys Jeff Smith.
He added that anytime theres a scary thing like the pandemic people start becoming more self-reliant, with further caution stemming from a dubious economic outlook.
However, the Missouri poultry boss cautioned first-time chicken buyers against the idea that the scheme would be an instant money maker.
You want to do your research and due diligence, he told Fortune. You need to make sure youve got the right type of situation for your animals throughout the seasons and for your geography.
If you dont have a shed you can convert, going out and buying materials can all add up. You really need to know your area with wildlife depending what part of the country youre in.
Where we are if you dont have Fort Knox for your chickens youre going to have raccoons, coyotes, possums, wild dog, owls, hawks, everything coming in to eat your chickens.
Like his Pennsylvania counterpart, Smith is similarly having to balance backyard buyers with wholesalers: We cant supply all the chick needs that the demand wants right now. We cant magically appear these it takes six to eight months and a lot of what we do is cyclical.
Of course if you over-produce and you dont have a market youve just shot all of your profit for the year. You cant just go out and mass-produce and flood the market otherwise youd be out of business.
