I mentioned this to my friends in Cuba as well, and once the laughter died down, one spoke up saying, "Even if we could raise chickens privately, we're so hungry that we'd just eat all the eggs (and profits)."
From 1991-1993, after the Soviet Union fell, these people ate bananas ("fungos") every single meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They only had these and a monthly ration of a 5-lb. bag of rice. They said it caused serious problems in their arms and nerve systems. A decade later they still have meat (chicken or pork) only once a month, if lucky, and beef never. And this is the average person in Eastern Cuba. They all tell the same stories.