Chicken eggs being limited

[colette1970]

Why are supermarkets limiting chicken eggs to 2 lots per person , there is no shortage they have increased prises by 45 p ,not passed the increase off to the farmers , saying due to bird flu eggs are less , this is untrue farmers have loads of eggs , my local farm sells 15 free range eggs for £1.50 no shortage but you go to Morrison’s ,Asda, etc they are saying shortage ,there is no shortage they are trying to buy even cheaper from farmers etc and sell for higher prices .

I thought loads of chickens were being culled due to bird flu? Which will eventually lead to a shortage in eggs (maybe not for a few weeks due to stocks). I know domestic birds are meant to be kept inside now, so free range eggs won't be possible for a while.

Is there not a massive cull due to disease affecting supply?

There most definitely is an egg shortage.
My ds works in the egg business and has been saying for weeks this was coming.

Lots of large egg producers have gone out of business though due to increased costs. In addition many thousands of birds have been culled due to bird flu.

where I live the hens are in a massive field that is covered ,so they are still free range and are still classed as being pend in ,they have lots of laying hens still out in the open but covered up as the guide lines set out for them plenty of free range eggs I can’t understand why major supermarkets are saying is a shortage , yes feed etc is going up but major supermarkets are not passing the increase in price to farmers instead they are profiting off them .

The shortages aren’t limited to one local area. They also have nothing to do with prices.

Bird flu is a huge problem worldwide. It’s not just poultry farms. In my country, our local zoo had to put down all the birds on one exhibit. All others were immediately quarantined.

It's not avian flu causing the egg shortages, it's because the supermarkets aren't paying the farmers enough to cover the costs of production, so farmers haven't been setting up the new flocks of laying hens as it's a loss making exercise.

Yet again it boils down to greedy bloody supermarkets not paying their producers enough. The industry has been warming this was coming for ages and no one would listen.

I thought it was because birds are being culled over bird flu. Our supermarket is restricting customers to 2 boxes. Surely that's enough for a week. During the war it was 1 egg a week.

In case you hadn't noticed life has changed quite a bit since the war, why do people always bring stuff like that up like it's a valid point about the current situation.

It is valid. How many eggs a week do you need?

I can’t understand why major supermarkets are saying is a shortage , yes feed etc is going up but major supermarkets are not passing the increase in price to farmers instead they are profiting off them .

You've answered your own question. Egg farming is loss-making because of the actions of the supermarkets.

Many farmers are reducing their flocks just to keep up with their leases, others are pulling out of the business altogether, still more have been forced out due to a bird flu outbreak with resulting culls, cleaning and an enforced break of months before they are permitted to restock.

Those raising birds for meat are facing similar challenges.

Well no-one 'needs' eggs, we can eat other things.

We normally buy at least 2 dozen a week as we both eat eggs for breakfast most days and use them for Yorkshire puddings and occasional baking too.

If we were around in the war I would have been keeping chickens and looking to swap some of the generous sugar 'ration' for eggs as the weekly half pound allowance would have lasted us around a month at least.

But I now wonder if there's going to be an element of panic buying, which will make the problem worse.

There is a shortage. Why would you say there isn’t? Is this just based on your observation that your local farm has chickens wandering about?

Perhaps you should read the news OP and realise the farm near you doesn’t supply the whole country.

Who knew that all farms are different, wow.

Fewer farmers are now keeping egg laying chickens as its a loss maker, so this reduces the supply. Then we have culls, but we also have free range egg farmers who now have less space, so those choosing to still keep chickens have to take on fewer chickens than before.

So we have fewer flocks and smaller flocks, its quite obvious why we have fewer eggs at the moment.

A friend is a poultry farmer (meat, not eggs), fewer farmers are raising these now as well, consumers pay pennies for an entire animal and flocks have the potential to be lost to avian flu.

"There is no shortage."

So because your local farm have plenty of eggs, the same must be true for the whole country??

Two boxes of eggs per person is more than enough. How many people are in your family that you go through more than 24 eggs in a week? And you could always go back to the shop for a second trip if you're so desperate.

People like me who are vegan are probably being blamed too. We're not creating a demand for eggs.

There is most definitely a shortage. This was my local massive Tesco this morning