Should we get Backyard Chickens in Colorado or wait for prices to drop?

Colorado--Let's talk about ridiculous egg prices and having chickens at home.

Here's what you need to know:

• Egg prices are predicted to drop soon
• Chickens don't lay eggs their whole life.
• Chickens are abandoned every year.

Do you think Coloradan's should get backyard chickens?

Many Colorado residents are thinking about backyard chickensPhoto byImage by Melanie from Pixabay

Egg Prices will drop

The avian flu meant many egg-producing flocks were lost in 2022. Farmers are rebuilding their flocks, but it will take some time to recover.

While not solely to blame for egg inflation, the virus contributed to higher prices and shortages that continued this week. A dozen ordinary large white eggs at King Soopers cost $5.49 on Friday — if you could find them --Colorado Sun

In the meantime, replace your eggs with other things Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder told the Colorado Sun.

“If you’re eating eggs for breakfast, what else can we eat instead? You have a lot of other things that you can eat for breakfast instead.”

How long do Chickens lay eggs?

Hens should start laying eggs when they are18- 22 weeks old. If you want eggs now, don't buy tiny chicks. (Unless you just want a cute pet!)

They don't always lay all year round, either. It depends on how much daylight there is.

Using a timer and a 60-watt incandescent bulb, add light to the morning and late afternoon but allow hens to naturally roost in the evenings with the setting sun. --University of Wisconsin-Madison

Most hens will live around 6-8 years (or even 10 years!) but only lay for 3-4 of those years.

What will you do with them long term?

If your chicken lives for 10 years, what will you do with it when it's not laying?

Farmed animals expert Marie McAninch told Stuff people should only get chickens if the want them as pets too.

"You have to think about the whole of their lifetime."--Marie McAninch, Stuff

And what if you accidentally get a rooster? It's not easy to tell when you buy chicks. The rooster problem has been around for a while in Colorado:

"Roosters have turned up abandoned at a mountain campsite near Allenspark, been dumped in a dog park near Lafayette, and placed in after-hours drop boxes at Denver’s Municipal Animal Shelter. Roosters are now rivaling dogs and cats as the species most often illegally abandoned, animal control officers say." --The Denver Post

Is it still worth getting chickens? What do you think?

Join the conversation

• Have you been thinking about getting chickens?
• Do you think people are being too quick to get chickens if it's a temporary problem?
• Will food prices go up this year in Colorado?
• Do you think egg prices will stay high or drop?

Tell us in the comments and join the conversation Coloradan's are having today.

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