[SoFloFreeper]

The article details some sort of virus that has affected birds. The virus, though, isn't the sole cause. If we were pursuing economic strength by liberating the markets, there would be greater resilience....frankly, I think Team Obama has injured every sector of the economy (except gun sales)....

[telstar12.5]

don’t let “the man” on your property w/o a warrant

[exDemMom]

So far, 44 million or so chickens have been culled because of bird flu. That is a significant proportion of the laying population. Simple economics: when supply drops, prices rise.

[rey]

That and production methods have been altered by California law limiting the size of cages and how birds are housed. The regs cost money and lowered production. It didn’t just affect CA anyone wanting to sell in CA had to fully comply as well.

[jjotto]

Related:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3297191/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3297487/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3293116/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3285357/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3283955/posts

[Nowhere Man]

Wow, sometimes I feel like I’m living in the Soviet Union. BTW, I guess we’d have to get our own chickens or ducks for eggs. A friend of mind has pet ducks, Pekins, Mallards and I think an Indian Runner or two. He gets eggs from them. A few years ago, Mom and I made chocolate chip cookies from duck eggs and they were the fluffiest cookies I’ve ever ate.

[ETL]

[rellimpank]

--I say it's a misleading headline--'rationing' by a grocery chain isn't anything "official", any more than Wal-mart's "rationing" of .22 ammo is---

--the increase in the price of eggs is caused by the same economic factor as the increase in the price of beef--less supply, so the price goes up---as the last few months have proven, it even applies in reverse--see the price of oil for an example--

[HereInTheHeartland]

Living here in Iowa; not seeing how an egg shortage has anything to do with Obama or any other politician.
There is a nasty virus carried by migratory birds that is wiping out farm after farm in my state; one of the largest egg producers.
A vaccine is being worked on; plus warmer temps will likely end the virus soon and the farms will be back in production soon.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Why ration eggs? Just raise the prices up and the market will self-correct.

What's stopping people from going to multiple grocery stores to purchase eggs?

[boycott]

I bet they’re available with EBT cards and WIC.

[bigbob]

If you’re blaming avian flu on Obama, let’s see the proof.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Actually, the virus *is* the sole cause of this problem.

With infectious disease, the USDA becomes an agricultural “angel of death”, wiping out entire herds, flocks, and fields because a single infection was detected.

In this case, this avian flu has spread like wildfire. Between the disease and the culling, about 30 to 50 million chickens have been exterminated. The means to do so is to put the birds in their gigantic coops, then flood the coops with suffocating foam. The dead birds are then composted in the same building before every surface in it is sterilized from bottom to top.

Recovery time varies. Chicken raised for meat can reach maturity from 5-8 weeks. But egg laying chickens take about 4.5-5 months to start laying in earnest.

The first time I saw the USDA in its full AOD mode was when a single sample of wheat in Arizona exhibited “Karnal Bunt”, a fungus disease. Their response was to order ALL Arizona wheat destroyed, and for all wheat fields to remain fallow for FIVE years.

By far the most troubling is when a herd of cows was detected with hoof and mouth disease. A large pit is dug, then the cows are shot and dumped in the pit, which then has some inflammable liquid poured on the pile and the cadavers are burned. The last major example of this was in 2001.

[trisham]

We buy more than 50% of our eggs from friends who raise chickens.

[PAR35]

Don’t forget the impact of the new California laws for chicken houses. California used to be a large chicken and egg producer. The new law is killing that. So our prices go up to supply the fruits and nuts.

From a January 1 story about the new law:

“I expect when eggs settle out eggs will be between 10 and 40 percent more expensive for consumers,” he said.”
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/01/01/new-california-law-means-hen-houses-nationwide-will-have-to-make-room-for-chickens/

[maine-iac7]

I get my eggs locally - for $2 a doz.

Fresh. free foraging, nutrient rich, don't need refrigeration - The way eggs are supposed to be...and they're pretty besides

[The Great RJ]

Let the market decide and keep the government out of the egg business. If some groceries want to limit the number of eggs purchased let them, but it is really a meaningless exercise. What is to keep customers from just going to another store or coming back at a later time to buy eggs? What I fear would be a government egg bureau that would ration eggs and by doing so stifle future production and the end to shortages. Price rations and while I love my breakfast eggs I would quit buying eggs if the price becomes too high. High prices however will spur egg producers to push rebuilding flocks and take costly precautions to preserve existing flocks.

[Mariner]

For Freepers who can, now is the time to make a little money:

At my local Nugget Market yesterday I saw a dozen large, organically certified eggs from PASTURED HENS at:

$8.99 - yes $0.75 each.

I REALLY miss raising my own hens.

I pay the price because I just CAN NOT STAND a regular, commercial egg. They're OK for baking etc. but they taste like crap when you can taste anything at all.

[Jan_Sobieski]

When a nation turns away from God...

Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in , and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out . 20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do , until thou be destroyed , and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish . 23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. 24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed . 25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies : thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away . 27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods * , and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed . 28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. 30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies , and thou shalt have none to rescue them. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look , and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up ; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see . 35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed , from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. 36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known ; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in ; for the locust shall consume it. 39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. 41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume . 43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. 45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. 47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed : which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down , wherein thou trustedst , throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave : 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat : because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear : for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful , and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance , and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance . 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed . 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.

[upcountryhorseman]

Thank God we have chickens!

[hinckley buzzard]

The great thing about eggs is that anyone with a chicken coop can go into the egg business. Buy small, buy locally. Find the local entrepreneur willing to sell you a carton or two a week at a fixed price. Been doing it for years, no shortage. For you people who choose to live in cities far away from real life, I dunno. Good luck.