Tag: chickens

American Farms Cull Millions Of Chickens Amid Virus-Related Staff Shortages At Processing Plants

Via ZeroHedge

A significant concern that readers should have during an economic collapse and pandemic is food security. We’ve noted over April that troubling news is developing deep inside America’s food supply chain network, suggesting shortages and rapid food inflation could be ahead.

The reason behind the disruptions begins with meatpacking plants across the country are shuttering operations because of virus-related issues. At the moment, we’ve reported at least 10-12 large operations have gone offline in the last several weeks, which could result in pork shortages in the first or second week in May.

“Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity is down, the first big poultry plants closed on Friday and experts are warning that domestic shortages are just weeks away,” reported Bloomberg.

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Why chickens are twice as big today as they were 60 years ago

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American families are getting smaller and yet chickens are getting larger

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As we begin 2017, Americans can look back at 2016 as yet another year with record-high chicken consumption—an average of 89.6 pounds per person. That’s more than three times as much as our grandparents ate.

Chickens we eat today are twice as big as they were 60 years ago. In 1955, the average weight of chickens sold on market was 3.07 pounds, while the number for the first half of 2016 was 6.18 pounds, according to National Chicken Council, a nonprofit trade organization based in Washington, D.C.

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RENT A CHICKEN

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This is how much it will cost to buy — or even rent — your own egg-producing chicken

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Would you like your own? You can now rent or buy.

The sharing economy for chickens is nothing to gobble at.

The price of a dozen eggs has soared more than 30% in just one month to $2.57 in June from $1.96 in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The price rise in recent months is due to an outbreak of avian influenza virus H5N1; around 48 million turkeys, chickens and hens have either died from the flu or have been euthanized. No new cases of the virus have been detected for more than a month, but U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this week that he was not ready to declare the crisis over.

And while there have been no reported cases of H5N1 transferring to humans during this outbreak across 20 states, many consumers are more concerned about the provenance of their eggs than the price per dozen. “No human infections with these viruses have been detected at this time,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated. “However, similar viruses have infected people in the past. It’s possible that human infections with these viruses may occur.”

Some Americans prefer to eat eggs from chickens they’ve raised themselves rather than buy eggs from their local store, at least for now. But the overhead investment on a backyard flock can be steep. And it’s a big commitment. What’s a sustainability-minded omelet lover to do? How about renting a chicken?

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