Egg shortage leads to increase in backyard chicken sales in Phoenix

Chicks gather under a heat lamp. — Gordon’s Feed, which sells animals and animal feed in Phoenix, gets 500 baby chicks weekly year-round. Due to the increase in demand, baby chicks in recent weeks have sold out within two days, owner Gordon Grantham said on Jan. 26, 2023. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)

PHOENIX – High egg prices have led homeowners to start their own backyard hatcheries and caused stores to see an increase in their sales of chicken feed and baby chicks.

The bird flu has affected more than 58 million chickens since early last year and led to a lower supply and higher prices for eggs. This year’s infections surpassed those of the last big outbreak, in 2015. It arrives during the cold seasons and typically dies off going into the summer, but last year it never completely went away.

“It is an epidemic of high pathogenic avian influenza, which is highly contagious and deadly to domestic poultry,” said Jerome Rosa, animal services associate director at the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

Bird flu symptoms: swollen head and neck, purple discoloration on head or feet, runny nose and cough, respiratory distress, lack of appetite, diarrhea and drop in egg production. — Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (Illustration by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)

Rosa said in 2022, 50 million birds in the U.S. died or were culled because of the virus. Of those, 43 million were egg-laying hens. The bird flu has been found in Arizona but has spared the state’s major commercial egg farms.

A gif of an egg in a nest. — (Illustration by Emily Mai/Cronkite News)

Gordon’s Feed in Phoenix has seen an influx of customers due to the recent high prices of eggs. The store generally gets 500 baby chicks weekly year-round, and baby chicks have sold out within two days over the past few weeks. “Due to the egg shortage and people wanting to get back into the backyard chickens, we have actually doubled, getting closer to the thousand mark every week,” owner Gordon Grantham said.

Luis Gallero, who works at Gordon’s Feed, showcases two of his own chickens on Jan. 26, 2023, at the store in Phoenix. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)
Gordon Grantham, the owner of Gordon’s Feed, stands in front of a chalkboard that lists prices of what the feed store sells on Jan. 26, 2023, in Phoenix. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)
A couple-month-old chicken at Gordon’s Feed Jan. 26, 2023, in Phoenix. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)
In order for chickens to lay eggs and maintain their health, they need to eat the right feed. Photo taken on Jan. 26, 2023, at Gordon’s Feed in Phoenix. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)

Breeding chicks could be cheaper in the long run after initial startup costs, but caring for chickens may not be for everyone.

“You should treat a chick as you would a human baby,” said Quinta Jackson, a backyard chicken owner in Phoenix, noting that raising chickens is an investment in a live animal, not just an egg-laying machine.

Quinta Jackson has a backyard coop that houses four egg-laying chickens. She treats them as pets and shares eggs with family. Photo taken Jan. 31, 2023, in Phoenix. (Photo by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News) — Quinta Jackson has a backyard coop that houses four egg-laying chickens. She treats them as pets and shares eggs with family. Photo taken Jan. 31, 2023, in Phoenix.

Two chickens feed out of Quinta Jackson's hand. — Quinta Jackson feeds her backyard chickens dried soldier flies Jan. 31, 2023, in Phoenix. (Photos by Gianna Abdallah/Cronkite News)

The average chicken takes four to six months to begin laying eggs, and baby chicks must be in a temperature-controlled environment to survive.

And Arizona counties and cities have a hodgepodge of rules on the keeping of backyard chickens. But some Arizona lawmakers are trying to change that. Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, introduced HB 2483 to prohibit local governments from prohibiting chicken in single-family homes and set statewide standards on limits of suburban fowl. The bill is currently in committee.