Someone Eggsplain This To Me

So I've got this neighbor. He's had chickens (not the same ones) for over a decade now, and has successfully gotten his birds to lay eggs annually. This past fall, they stopped laying. He couldn't figure why. He finally ended up getting rid of the chickens and starting over with baby chicks.

So maybe you're thinking "ok, your friend's chickens stopped laying. And...?"

But that's just it. It wasn't just my friend's chickens. LOTS of people's backyard chickens stopped laying this past fall. I saw the personal accounts of homesteaders on Instagram and Facebook.

Then I started coming across some interesting information. I am not sure how else to present this information in a digestible format other than a bulleted list. So, here it goes:

• In 2012, Cal-Maine (largest egg producers in the US) went into a joint venture with Land O Lakes (who produces Purina, the big chicken feed company). So the people who feed your chickens, also want you to buy their eggs. Cool.

• On Cal-Maine’s 2022 financial statement here, they state that they are expanding their egg production, and that they are adding chicken housing for 600,000 more egg layers in September 2022. Yikes.

• According to the chart here on the CDC's website, it seems that more large poultry flocks are reported to have been infected with the Avian Flu this past fall. Seems relevant.

• The cost of eggs in the US goes so high that people would rather try to smuggle in eggs through the Mexican border (here) than drugs or children.

• Saturday, January 28th, a 50ft by 600ft chicken coop at Hillandale Farms in Connecticut (one of the largest egg producers in the US) mysteriously caught fire, killing approx. 100,000 laying hens. Yeah, no updates on that either.

I'm Scrambled

I'm not saying that someone is definitely trying to poison our chickens and make us rely on them solely for our eggs. But also, something here stinks. Rotten egg, maybe?

Is there Anything I Can Do?

If you're nervous that there is something going on with the feed, make your own. It's pretty simple (I've only ever fed my chickens homemade feed). I mix black oil sunflower seeds, animal corn, and horse oats. I also ferment it (for nutritional bennies and to save some cash).

If you have any thoughts on the subject, please share!