Danielle Smith, producer/reporter, Tennessee News Service, a bureau of Public News Service.
Rising egg prices have some wondering if raising backyard chickens could save money, but experts warn that this may not be a money-saving option.
The ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, a dangerous strain of bird flu, has resulted in the loss of more than 100 million hens nationwide.
Dr. Tom Tabler, poultry extension and research specialist at the University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture, said backyard chickens are a good idea. Still, they’re costly and won’t save you money on eggs. He said they add many expenses and take time to start laying eggs.
“A chicken is not going to lay eggs till she becomes sexually mature, and that’s going to be – depending on what breed of chicken that is – that’s going to be somewhere between about 19 weeks of age and 24 weeks of age,” he said. “If you get baby chicks, you’re going to have to raise those chickens for six months before you start getting any eggs.”
Tabler said those buying adult chickens should make sure they’re disease-free. He recommended getting them from sellers in the National Poultry Improvement Plan, which follows standards to ensure the birds are healthy.
Tabler said egg prices have remained high because bird flu has killed about 168 million birds since 2022; around 100 million were egg-laying hens. More than half of those losses happened between October 2024 and last February, right in the middle of the holiday baking season.
“I really don’t expect egg prices to seriously come down until maybe next year at the earliest,” he said, “because again, it’s going to take time to replace the lost flocks, and if we continue to lose table egg flocks, later into the year, those birds also have to be replaced.”
Tabler said there’s no vaccine yet for bird flu, although some companies are working on one. He said the best defense is keeping birds isolated, limiting human interaction, and ensuring they are in a clean and sanitary environment.
