Comments on: Op-ed: Egg Prices Are Soaring. Are Backyard Chickens the Answer? https://civileats.com/2025/02/18/op-ed-egg-prices-are-soaring-bring-out-the-backyard-hens/ Daily News and Commentary About the American Food System Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:53:47 +0000 hourly 1 By: Steve https://civileats.com/2025/02/18/op-ed-egg-prices-are-soaring-bring-out-the-backyard-hens/#comment-309622 Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:53:47 +0000 https://civileats.com/?p=61348#comment-309622 great article. I live in Maine and have kept backyard chickens since 2021, four to twelve at a time. Jason covers the pros and cons pretty well but I would add more detail to the cons. Predators were mentioned but a full accounting would include foxes, racoon, neighbor’s dogs, weasels, bears, and raptors. I’ve had them all! Also, rats, though not necessarily predators except of chicks, are attracted to chicken coops and it’s hard keeping chicken food away from them. Skunks may also enjoy life under chicken coops, though they may keep rats at bay. I removed a skunk one summer only to have rats appear the next! Finally, free range chickens can wreck landscaping and lawns (including on your neighbor’s property) because they love to scratch at mulch, eat tender seedlings, and make dust baths. I find the last one the most annoying because my chickens will remove the lawn grass in highly visible or traveled areas to create wallowed out dust bowls. Despite the cons I continue to keep chickens, but anyone considering a backyard flock should keep in mind that it may not be as idyllic as they think!

]]> By: Allan https://civileats.com/2025/02/18/op-ed-egg-prices-are-soaring-bring-out-the-backyard-hens/#comment-309620 Sat, 22 Feb 2025 20:14:51 +0000 https://civileats.com/?p=61348#comment-309620 I think the remarks about the current ‘bird flu’ being part of a power grab are true. I was running a 300 bird block for my CSA back in the ’00’s when there was a Bird Flu ‘scare.’ At that time one of the things the BIG EGG producers were pushing for was the eradication of ‘open flocks’ (like traditional farm flocks or backyard birds) I think the scare passed before any real movment was made to do that but it was clear to me that BIG EGG was seizing the Capitalist philosophy that a CRISES, real or made up, is an excellent time to maximize profits.

Sadly, I currently live in Martinsburg, WV, a place where it is illegal to have backyard chickens (if you can believe it!!) Fortunately, I do have backyard carrots and kale.

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