Egg shortage

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CHenry

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Like I said back several months ago, the avian flue wiped out 10s of thousands of chickens. My brother and his team, who work for the USDA killed, (He said) over 10,000 after they tested positive. I dont even know the total number killed but I'll ask him if he knows. They can replace them to laying age rather fast so it should normalize real soon.
 

SoonerP226

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When you lose an egg layer, you don’t just lose that bird’s production, you also lose the eggs from the next generation that it takes to replace her. (Some of those eggs will not make it, and some will be male, so it’s not like it just takes one egg to replace one laying hen.) So, in the interim, you’re not just down in production, you also have producer replacement competing with production for consumption.

If that happens while they’re in a normal downswing of egg production (hens usually lay fewer eggs in the winter), that’s just going to make things worse.

It’ll take time to replace the production of those destroyed chickens, but the good news is that it will eventually happen... unless the gov’t decides to “help,” that is. In that case, all bets are off…
 

CHenry

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When you lose an egg layer, you don’t just lose that bird’s production, you also lose the eggs from the next generation that it takes to replace her. (Some of those eggs will not make it, and some will be male, so it’s not like it just takes one egg to replace one laying hen.) So, in the interim, you’re not just down in production, you also have producer replacement competing with production for consumption.

If that happens while they’re in a normal downswing of egg production (hens usually lay fewer eggs in the winter), that’s just going to make things worse.

It’ll take time to replace the production of those destroyed chickens, but the good news is that it will eventually happen... unless the gov’t decides to “help,” that is. In that case, all bets are off…
It's already happening, that is why prices are stabilizing.
I dont know how long it takes from hatchling to laying but seems I read somewhere that its not real long.
Edit, its about 18 weeks
 

Chuckie

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When you lose an egg layer, you don’t just lose that bird’s production, you also lose the eggs from the next generation that it takes to replace her. (Some of those eggs will not make it, and some will be male, so it’s not like it just takes one egg to replace one laying hen.) So, in the interim, you’re not just down in production, you also have producer replacement competing with production for consumption.

If that happens while they’re in a normal downswing of egg production (hens usually lay fewer eggs in the winter), that’s just going to make things worse.

It’ll take time to replace the production of those destroyed chickens, but the good news is that it will eventually happen... unless the gov’t decides to “help,” that is. In that case, all bets are off…
This is not the first time that this has happened in our country and it won't be the last. We will get through this, as we always have - it's the American way!
 

retrieverman

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When you lose an egg layer, you don’t just lose that bird’s production, you also lose the eggs from the next generation that it takes to replace her. (Some of those eggs will not make it, and some will be male, so it’s not like it just takes one egg to replace one laying hen.) So, in the interim, you’re not just down in production, you also have producer replacement competing with production for consumption.

If that happens while they’re in a normal downswing of egg production (hens usually lay fewer eggs in the winter), that’s just going to make things worse.

It’ll take time to replace the production of those destroyed chickens, but the good news is that it will eventually happen... unless the gov’t decides to “help,” that is. In that case, all bets are off…
Chickens that lay the eggs for eating are totally different birds/breeds from the chickens (breeders) that lay eggs for hatching. Biosecurity in commercial breeder operations is pretty tight, so if AI gets into a flock, somebody has royally screwed up. Those are some high dollar birds.
 

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