The 2020s have been a rather “interesting” decade for chickens.
First, there was man’s pandemic.
The early days of covid saw a run on toilet paper…and a run on chicks. Hatcheries and retailers like Tractor Supply and Runnings that sell baby chickens couldn’t keep up with the demand.
So-called panic buying (something I would prefer to call “preparedness buying”) for these creatures had set in for two reasons.
First, there were fears of food insecurity. There were concerns that retailers could be shutdown as governments chased covid. And, there was the very real issue of an egg shortage, one that didn’t last too long, when the distribution networks had to make the sudden change from restaurants, schools, and food processors to consumers suddenly finding themselves homebound and egg-hungry.
Secondly, there was a strong desire to be self-sufficient, just in case. As the lockdowns deepened, breadwinners were concerned that they might not see work again for months if it was a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic.
So, with free time on their hands and a whole bunch of unknowns before them, it made sense for homeowners to build a backyard farm that could provide eggs and meat.
Now, that’s been followed up by the birds’ own pandemic.
Since 2022, avian flu -- more appropriately the response to it -- has resulted in the mass slaughter of 166 million chickens in the United States to keep it at bay, to no avail.
This has had a significant impact on the supply and cost of eggs. At the end of 2021, the average cost of a dozen eggs was $1.79. Today, it’s $4.95.
That quantum leap in pricing has many families now, like in 2020, considering starting a miniature chicken farm to weather this crisis that seemingly has no end in sight.
When they do that, they’ll join millions of American with backyard farms who, among them, are my family.
We went all-in with chickens within a month of the start of the covid lockdowns. It was a long time coming. My oldest daughter had been asking for years. We knew that we’d get chickens, sometime. 2020 added immediacy to that.
Since then, we’ve finally come out ahead. When you invest in your own chicken farm know there’s financial value in it, but it takes considerable time to get there. You have significant upfront costs of coops, fencing, food and water containers, heaters, and more. After that initial start-up, your costs then go into cruise control – you’re buying feed and not much else (except maybe more chickens).
But, you’ll find, especially if you have kids, that there’s something bigger in it -- if it doesn’t bring value soon, it will bring values immediately.
The lessons that chicken rearing has taught my oldest are priceless. The hobby farm has added complexity and responsibility to her day-to-day life. Once, her chores might have mirrored those of her peers – pick-up after yourself, help with the dishes, give dad a hand raking the leaves. Now, she has living, breathing animals depending on her.
She has to lock them in their coops at night so the minks don’t get them. She has to let them out into their runs in the morning. She has to keep them fed and watered. She has to clean out their nesting boxes a few times a week. She has to harvest and clean the eggs. She has to be cognizant of hawks, eagles, and foxes when letting the chickens run free in the yard.
That’s a lot of work for adult, let alone a kid. But, she loves it. Oh, she might complain when digging up the soiled saw dust shavings, but she adores those birds, the breakfasts and her little farm. As a matter of fact, over these five years she’s accumulated chicken do-dads – stuffed animals, Christmas ornaments, books and more. You don’t do that when you’re burned out. You do that when you enjoy what you’re doing.
Those chickens have become part of her identity…in more ways than one. These old-school lessons have taught her plenty about life and death, animal husbandry, scheduling, farming, health and safety, inventory management, biology, budgeting, food preparation, work ethic, love, and sacrifice.
So, future chicken farmers, don’t second guess what 2025’s latest crisis will make you do. Your hobby farm will do more than serve up breakfast. It will serve a higher purpose, too: Not only will you be raising chickens, you’ll also be raising capable and loving human beings.
From the 01 March 2025 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun
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