Montana does not see Murdoch farm in Helena, Montana, a crowd. However, these days, the line can be to reach the door. People shouted to each other while they were making the knights for the center, and at home, employees offer more than 200 calls per day of careful sponsors. Everyone after the same thing: children’s chicken.
“It is very ridiculous,” said Keira Amandal, who works there. Chicks usually spend days, if not weeks, in the store before finding a house. “Now people come and [we are] Selling within an hour. “
Murdoch It is not the only place that turns peopleY. On the national level, the demand for chicken exceeds the width, which leaves potential Polveres scrambling to find children’s birds. But experts say that the chick crisis is not directly related to bird flu – Also known as bird flu – This suffers from the country. For the largest part, the number of chicks offered to farmers has not decreased.
“This is not necessarily a shortage of chick as there is an increasing demand,” said Tom Watskins, the president and the owner of the Murray McMuri music in Wester City. Iowa. Where he usually sees two or three weeks waiting for chicken, it is sold for the rest of the year. “I went to last fall, believing that we have slowed down. By the end of January, I knew it would be one of those different years.”
Why? Because bird flu outbreak has raised The price of eggs. according to Federal Economic Reserve DataDozens Egg cost $ 3.37 In October. They crossed the $ 5 brand in January, and last month the price was up to $ 6.23. With increased costs, as well as a call to lift layers at home. I responded Post on the Run on Chicks has hundreds of UpvotesWhile other people roam They are trying to dismantle their birds at home.
“Every time we have a shrinkage in the economy, people resort to self -sufficiency,” said Scott Bayer, an assistant professor and poultry expert at Kansas State University. This was the case during the great recession, and again during Epidemic. This time is egg prices, and Bayer said it might take months, if not years, for commercial pieces to restore enough to achieve stability in the market. But he said, this recovery will happen, and the excess correction may mean that it “will be deducted soon.”
Such fluctuations worry Amdahl. Its store sells chicks for approximately 11 weeks every spring, and it passes by about ten birds for every customer. The last time she saw a blessing like this, during Covid, it was just a few months before customers started publishing brochures and Craigslist ads that are looking to re -equip their fast chicken. Some birds have been abandoned, or killed.
“It is sad,” he said, explaining that many people do not realize what is necessary to raise the chicken. Although their food may be accessible to everyone, startups may be important – from Cooops and Ragings to nutrients and veterinarian bills. Then the winter comes, and there is insulation, heating lamps and warming strips to prevent water from freezing. “It’s a lot of work.”
Upon properly finished, Bayer says that breeding of chicken can be economic and environmentally friendly. He said: “Eggs from the house are one of the easiest ways to grow protein in your plate.” “We need more people to experience food cultivation and preserve animals.”
Bayer said that the one -curve ball is currently the price of chicks, which rose with the boom in attention. It can make the recovery period unrealistic. But Watskins says he saw that the request begins to reduce and “at some point it will serve all the people who will keep chicken.”
Currently, the chicks race lasts.
“2000 phone calls have been kept daily in the past two months,” said Watkins, at least three times at least, at least. “It is difficult to keep up with the request.”
