In recent days, an ominous sign has appeared throughout Texas. "Eggs [are] not for commercial sale," read warnings, printed on traditional 8 1/2-by-11-inch pieces of white paper and posted at H-E-B grocery stores across Texas. "The purchase of eggs is limited to 3 cartons of eggs per customer."
H-E-B, which operates some 350 supermarkets, is one of the largest chains not only in the state, but in the whole country. And it has begun, as the casual but foreboding notices warn, to ration its eggs.
"The United States is facing a temporary disruption in the supply of eggs due to the Avian Flu," a statement released on Thursday said. "H-E-B is committed to ensuring Texas families and households have access to eggs. The signs placed on our shelves last week are to deter commercial users from buying eggs in bulk."
The news, as the grocer suggests, comes on the heels of what has been adevastating several months for egg farmers in the United States. Avian flu, which has proven lethal in other parts of the world, has spread throughout the United States like wildfire. Since April, when cases began spreading by the thousands each week, the virus has escalated to a point of national crisis.
As of this month, some 46 million chickens and turkeys have been affected,according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nearly 80 percent of those are egg-laying hens, a reality that has been crippling for the egg industry.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that it isn't merely those who produce eggs that will suffer. Those who eat them will pay a price, too.
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All the more reason to keep chickens (sorry, no roosters) in the city in your fenced-in back yard. Fresh eggs every day. Not free, but not weeks old, from out-of-state chicken laying factories and sold to you at ever-increasing prices.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea if you can keep the wild animals from eating the chickens. We have lost dozens because of that. Wild animals will crawl over fences and dig under it.
ReplyDelete2:52 That's why we have guns. A nice, quiet, .22 works on anything that goes after chickens, including dogs and cats. Mainly Oppossum, raccoons and fox.
ReplyDeleteFor every wild animal, there's a way to prevent it from getting to your chickens.
ReplyDeleteChicken Little....The sky is falling....the sky is falling!!!!
ReplyDeleteBackyard flocks are the second leading cause of the spread of avian influenza. If more people had chickens in their backyards we would have far fewer eggs, not more.
ReplyDeleteI love my little chicken. Someone dumped her in a Styrofoam cooler in our driveway one night. Of course we took her in and she lays us an egg every day. I let her roam all day because our dogs keep any predators away and at night I lock her in the barn where she has her own little area set up.
ReplyDeleteShe never goes very far from the house. She naps right next to the dogs and sometimes walks up our front porch steps and rests on the porch.
6:16 Traveling to other farms, bringing back infected birds, not following a bio-security protocol... yes, ANY facility, backyard or commercial will get bit. But, your statement is wrong and irresponsible. Just by having chickens in your back yard is not going to spread disease, etc. Going to tractor supply, to a fair, a poultry swap, etc and not following some sort of sanitation/ bio-security protocol, will get your birds sick quick. That includes to opposite, of having visitors.
ReplyDeleteI allow people on my farm with a warrant, or invitation. Anyone else, I hope you have a clean pair of underwear with you.