Where Have all the Good Eggs Gone?

Well, they aren't all gone, just selling out quickly in the Windmill's grocery!

Chances are if you've come looking for eggs in the last two months you might have been disappointed at least once or twice that we were sold completely out of our fresh farm eggs! As soon as we get a delivery they are gone because the chickens just haven't been laying up to their usual amounts of late. The eggs have been trickling in from local producers just a few dozen at a time.

We are so used to our big box grocery stores always having what we want, when we want it. The convenience of that is undoubtable, but the reality of eating local and supporting local farmers is a bit more complicated. When working with small farms and small supplies there can be occasional times when we don't have all we want. Inconvenient... but interesting to think about all the behind-the-scenes of our local food system.

Case in point- last summer we experienced a small drought and cattle farmers feared their pastures and hay supplies wouldn't sustain their herds through the fall. They quickly sent their cattle to be processed all at one time, which completely clogged the states one tiny beef processor and the whole supply chain came to a screeching halt. So we were short of local ground beef in July, right when folks wanted to get the grill going and make a nice hamburger in the backyard. Poor timing, but interesting to think about the reason for it all.

Back to the issue at hand: EGGS.
Turns out (for us city-slickers who don't know these things) that chickens can be finicky layers. The slightest change can cause them to decrease their laying or stop all together! The short answer for the recent small supply is the cold weather. With the low temps we experienced over the holidays, and then the drastic ups and downs we've had the past two weeks, Baldwin County chickens are on STRIKE!

And after doing a little reading on the internet, I discovered lots of other interesting reasons a chicken might cut back on laying. One is that they might be hiding the eggs- production hasn't decreased at all! But once you have fished through all the hay and bedding and made sure the eggs are not there, here are some reasons for a decrease in production:

decreased hours of daylight

improper nutrition

disease

increasing age

getting too hot, or too cold

handling or moving the chickens or their coop

parasites

fright (limit the movement of children, strange dogs, livestock and vehicles)

predators such as foxes and eagles stress the birds and create a decrease in production

predators and snakes consuming the eggs

egg-eating by hens in the flock

insufficient nest boxes can cause excessive egg breakage

Click here to read more details...

And keep checking back! Call the Grocery anytime to check our supply and request eggs be put on hold for you, too! 990-8883