ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The avian flu outbreak has killed millions of chickens in America, and currently no end in sight. It has also led to a hike in egg prices and empty shelves in grocery stores.
It has led people to ask if it makes sense to try and buy and raise their own chickens, known as home poultry farming.
“Everyone wants some chickens, especially with the bird flu going around,” Kieran Heare, an assistant manager at Northwest Ace Hardware, said. “There’s a lot higher demand for the eggs, and a lot of people can be getting them this year.”
However, experts want people to know this is a long-term investment, not just a quick fix.
While the average adult chicken can lay between 200 and 250 eggs per year, like most pets, chickens need round-the-clock attention and care, which also costs money.
One group estimates it costs about 69 dollars a month to raise a flock of five chickens in your backyard. That’s more than 800 dollars a year for approximately 1,000 eggs, which is about 10 dollars a dozen. That doesn’t consider all the work it would take.
“From an economic standpoint, I think it’s questionable, Scott Baker, an agricultural extension agent in Bedford County, said. “Yes, eggs are very expensive right now, but at some point in the future, they will moderate back to more typical levels, and it may not be cheaper to raise (chickens), so you need to be raising for perhaps other reasons.”
With the Avian Flu outbreak, it’s more important than ever for people still interested in buying chickens, to get them from a reputable source.
“You certainly want to be buying chickens from an actual commercial hatchery,” Baker said. “There are several of them around but not locally, but they will mail these chicks in these pullets through the mail, and that can be done.”
Northwest Ace Hardware just ordered more chicks from a hatchery.
People interested can purchase the chicks with their starter kit of food, water, and a lamp.
“Then you want to get your starter feed for your chicks, and those can either be non-medicated or medicated,” Heare said. “The medication is going to help them boost growth and keep away all the diseases that they have.”
Ace expects the chicks to arrive around March 1st.