So much for lower prices: Americans stockpile eggs as stores are left with empty shelves amid bird flu outbreaks

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 06 February 2025 16:54 EST


With fewer shells on shelves, customers are scrambling for new ways to get their egg fix. Due to the bird flu outbreak, there are millions fewer hens, meaning way fewer eggs. Frustrated shoppers across the country have even started posting videos of empty shelves where eggs once lay. “Eggs were gone in less than 10 minutes! Costco!” one TikTok user wrote.

“My Costco didn’t even have eggs to buy yesterday,” an X user groaned. Another posted a video of empty shelves at a Florida Whole Foods: “The great egg shortage continues…” More than 13 million hens were lost to the virus in December alone, according to the USDA’s latest Egg Markets Overview.

Bird flu aside, the price of a dozen large grade-A eggs has been on the rise for almost a year and a half, doubling from September 2023 to December 2024, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. Currently, the average price of a dozen eggs is about $4.16, according to the American Egg Board. The Agriculture Department predicted egg prices would climb another 20 percent this year.

“These two forces combined — tight supply and high demand — are directly causing the spike in wholesale prices we’ve seen recently, as well as the intermittent shortages of eggs at some retail locations and in different parts of the country,” American Egg Board CEO Emily Metz previously told The Independent in a statement. But there’s another problem that seems to be falling through the cracks: shoppers appear to be stockpiling eggs.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/egg-shortage-prices-stockpiling-bird-flu-b2693758.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. As a cashier in retail grocery, every other customer is buying eggs.

Not just a dozen, but two dozen or a crate of 18.

Either they have to eat all those eggs or they aren't "fresh" after a little more than a week. Even hard-boiled eggs have a limited shelf life.

Hoarding is not a good option.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I heard a news report on the radio this morning about the hoarding going on

and they mentioned how Costco is apparently now doing a "3 carton limit" on purchases.

[OldBaldy1701E]

3. Oh, they will not be hoarding...

Welcome to the black market! Those leeches will be out there selling those eggs within a few days.

With only a 300% mark up...

[PunkinPi]

8. You can freeze eggs...

According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), you can freeze eggs for up to one year. When you’re ready to use frozen eggs, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Use egg yolks or whole eggs as soon as they’re thawed. Thawed egg whites will beat to better volume if you allow them to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Use thawed frozen eggs only in dishes that are thoroughly cooked.

Source - https://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes/cooking-school/can-i-freeze-eggs/

[Farmer-Rick]

16. I thought you had to separate

The yolks and whites to get a decent consistency after thawing the frozen eggs. You can not just put them in the freezer as a whole egg and expect them to be like a regular egg.

I have had a few frozen eggs from hens laying outside in the winter and when I bring them in, the eggs are always bad. But that maybe due to them cracking from freezing outside allowing bacteria into the eggs.

Maybe I can sell some of my eggs this year. The hens have started laying again. I used the farmish app before and couldn't sell a single dozen eggs last year for $5.00 a doz. Now, farmish is begging me to sign up my eggs again.

If you want local eggs, the farmish app is a good market place for them. You can choose what area in the US you are looking for.

[PunkinPi]

17. I have never tried it personally, so I'm not really sure, but

the link I posted mentions how to do just the whites, yolks, and whole egg. Obviously you shouldn't freeze them in the shell.

I do hope you are able to sell your eggs this year and thanks for the info about the farmish app!

[Marthe48]

20. My grandmother would freeze eggs

She would crack several into a pint freezer container, break the yolks and mix slightly. I think she gently covered them with cold water, then froze. She'd pull the layer of ice off and thaw. I think she'd use them for baking. Long, long ago.

[Retrograde]

32. I have some old Fanny Farmer cookbooks

that include directions for preserving eggs in something called waterglass, apparently a form of sodium silicate: "Purchase eggs from a reliable source in May, June, and July, when eggs are lowest in price. Wipe off with a clean flannel cloth but do not wash. Place small end down in a large stone crock. Use 1 pound waterglass or liquid sodium silicate to 10 quarts of cooled boiled water and pour over eggs". (from a 1950 edition)

[SWBTATTReg]

30. Well, I hope that they get sick. Not really, but hoarding eggs? Eggs don't last that long.

You're better off getting the damn birds and raising the chickens yourself, if you have an egg fetish that bad...

[Linda ladeewolf]

35. Just so everyone knows,

There are instructions online on how to freeze eggs for use in baking and they can be used for scrambled eggs and things like that. There are also tests you can run to make sure eggs are good. It’s not too difficult or time consuming.

[UpInArms]

4. You know, the media could have done stories about the price of eggs last year

and how bird flu had influenced that price.

Somehow, now, I just don’t care.

[LaMouffette]

5. I guess Rump kept his campaign promise of lowering egg prices . . . to zero, since you can't buy any.

[durablend]

6. "amid bird flu outbreaks"

Newp, most of them think that's "fake news" and there's something else sinister going on ("Biden killed all those chickens" ) and only "their president (Trump) " knows "what's really going on". Even the news sites that tilt somewhat to the right are getting pushback from the nuts that they need to stop peddling the "bird flu nonsense"

[Biophilic]

7. Sometimes the stupid is just too stupid to bare.

[GPV]

9. What are they gonna do, freeze them???

[Bengus81]

10. Just STOP buying the freakin things and we'll see just how much

the bird flu has a direct impact. Can't people do without eggs for a couple of weeks?

[Jit423]

12. NO! Remember Ronnie told us back in the 80s that Americans shouldn't have to sacrifice for anything? nt

[womanofthehills]

21. Luckily I have chickens - because I eat eggs every day

They are super nutritious.

I was at my local Walmart - here in the middle of NM yesterday - and they had double the number of eggs and types than they usually do. Maybe Walmart bought up all the eggs. Prices from $4 to $10 - and as a side note - an old man struck up a conversation with me & started flirting with me - we ended our conversation talking about how our legs were hurting 😊

[Jit423]

11. This same bird flu accounted for part of the rise in egg prices when Biden was in office. Media hardly talked about it

Now that Trump is in office the media is playing it up big time so as to help Trump through the egg scramble. Biden would get pass because of the bird flu. Now everything that is going wrong for Trump is getting blamed on either the bird flu or the past administration. Still, Trump has egg on his face.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. Except that

Biden never promised to "BRING DOWN PRICES ON DAY ONE!!11!!11!!!!1111".

[Raftergirl]

14. There is an easy solution. HWSRN can just ban bird flu! I'm sure the birds will comply.

[SamKnause]

15. Southwest, Ohio.

I do heavy grocery shopping about every 3 or 4 months.

I went yesterday.

There was no shortage of eggs.

Every size and count was available.

I paid $7.93 for extra large 18 count.

[kimbutgar]

19. That's a good price I paid $14.99 for 18 eggs this past weekend in the SF Bay Area

I usually buy a dozen that lasts me two weeks. I’m glad I was able to make my holiday egg nog this Christmas though and it only cost me for the milk, whipped cream and eggs under $15.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. I was just at the supermarket today around the time you posted

and decided to go on and buy eggs since my store finally had stocked some.

I paid $7.99 for an 18-egg ctn here in Philly. A 30-egg ctn was ~$15. I know back over the summer, that same 30-eg ctn was $4.99 with a coupon!

[thatdemguy]

28. My local stores in Maryland are well stocked and the average price is around 5.50 for a 18 pack.

Yes if you to the pricier stores like giant or safeway they get closer to 7, but pretty much everyone else is cheaper.

[twodogsbarking]

18. When the going gets tough, blame someone.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. How do you stockpile eggs?

Maybe there is disruption in the supply chain for restaurants and bakeries, so they have to buy in bulk from Costco?

Otherwise, what would a normal person do with a gross of eggs or more?

[BumRushDaShow]

24. I think in many cases

just like happened during the pandemic and the TP shortage, people are actually buying not just for themselves but for family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc (including those who may be shut-ins).

[Bengus81]

25. How come the price of chicken itself isn't going up and up? It's not where I shop and was there today

[IronLionZion]

31. Chickens for eating are relatively young. So less chance of exposure to get sick from bird flu

Egg laying hens are older so that takes more time to replenish. Factory farms are where entire flocks of chickens get wiped out with flu since they are in close quarters.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. To echo what IronLionZion said - I just found an article today on NPR

Here's a Super Bowl riddle: Why are egg prices surging — but not chicken wings?


February 7, 2025 5:00 AM ET

Scott Horsley


Here's an economic riddle ahead of the Super Bowl: Egg prices have been going through the roof, as a stubborn outbreak of avian flu haunts the nation's egg-laying chickens. So why have the prices of chicken wings barely budged? Wings have remained abundant and affordable, even as some supermarkets are rationing eggs and Waffle House added a 50 cent-per-egg surcharge this week. That's a relief for football fans, as wings will be the centerpiece of many a Super Bowl spread this weekend.

The reason chicken and egg prices have not moved in tandem has to do with the very different toll that avian flu has taken on birds that produce eggs — and those raised for their meat. Nationwide, egg farmers lost more than 38 million birds to the flu last year — nearly 14 million in December alone. That's put a crack in the nation's egg supply, which shows no sign of easing. When a flock of egg-laying hens is wiped out, it takes six months to a year to recover.

"Egg farmers are in the fight of their lives to keep this disease at bay, to keep our hens safe and to keep eggs coming," says Sam Krouse, a farmer who oversees a flock of 14 million laying hens in Indiana, Illinois, Texas and Georgia. "We know it's frustrating for consumers who want to go and buy eggs at the prices they've been used to."

But chicken wings are a different matter

Chickens raised for meat — known as "broilers" — live on different farms than those that produce eggs. And while broilers are not immune from avian flu, they haven't been hit nearly as hard as their egg-laying cousins. "They're younger typically, and older birds are more susceptible to the virus," says Tom Super of the National Chicken Council. "And broiler chickens are also not on the farm as long — only about seven weeks."

(snip)

[BoRaGard]

26. This is all on the anti-American g.O.P.

[Lovie777]

27. Yeah, but shithole musk republicans....

don’t want you to know about bird flu and how it’s spreading. Hell, they don’t want you to know that they are robing a shit load of money from the USA people’s treasury.

[bucolic_frolic]

29. Bob Kennedy can cure bird flu, can't he?

Don't you just feed the chickens seaweed?

[louis-t]

34. Eggs will last 3 to 5 weeks beyond the expiration on the carton.

They may do ok for a while even without refrigeration, but hoarding? How did that work out for you last time, American idiots? I think a lot of hoarded eggs are going to go bad. Yes, let's buy 14 dozen eggs, use 8 dozen and the rest will rot. Not very bright.

[BigmanPigman]

36. They must be the same ones who hoarded TP during COVID

[womanofthehills]

37. Now - if you buy them unwashed from a chicken farmer

You can keep them a year. Lots of different ways to preserve eggs but they can’t be washed.

VIDEO: Watch Me Water Glass Eggs For Long-Term Storage

https://www.amodernhomestead.com/water-glassing-eggs-for-long-term-storage/