Where have all the eggs gone?

[Greenmantle]

New Years resolution - do more cooking - low carb cooking with some baking of treats for the kids.
Little or no eggs - Lidl, Aldi & Sainsburys.
Have the chickens gone on strike?

[HTP99]

I have eggs for breakfast, have done for years, did my usual Tuesday morning weekly shop and noticed no eggs in Aldi, I just assumed some weird after Christmas stocking issue, went to Sainsbury's to get the bits Aldi don't stock, hardly any eggs, I ended up buying some expensive ones, there was a sign on the shelves stating there was a shortage but not the reason.

[J6542]

Bird flu, meaning lots of birds being culled.

[MOMACC]

Bird flu outbreaks reducing flocks and output

High feed and energy costs making production less profitable

Some farmers scaling back or leaving the industry

Slower rebuilding of laying hen numbers post culling

[trickywoo]

My local Lidl has free range at 86p for 6, Morrisons is £1.70 and Waitrose £1.45.

[Mobile Chicane]

Hens lay fewer eggs in winter.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Mobile Chicane said:

Hens lay fewer eggs in winter.

Very true. My father-in-law keeps some hens, in summer we have more eggs than we know what to do with but in winter the supply is much less so.

[craigjm]

Mobile Chicane said:

Hens lay fewer eggs in winter.

Yep and in addition with bird flu culls is impacting supply.

[98elise]

I bought eggs in my local Sainsburys yesterday, and they seemed to have plenty

[dickymint]

I grow my own!

[grumbledoak]

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

[dickymint]

grumbledoak said:

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

Also under pressure as regards water pollution..........

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/1...

[997.1]

Hens do lay fewer eggs in winter given fewer daylight hours. In the commercial setting hens are given artificial light

I do find the whole thing mysterious though. Waitrose organic eggs are quite pricey compared to the rest. I cannot taste any difference

When I kept hens, those eggs were noticeably more tasty

[fooman]

Some supply chain stall over Christmas then don't get going smoothly I've noticed off things being out of stock too

[dickymint]

Bit of a glut here so yesterday I pickled a dozen with some onion...............

[rdjohn]

grumbledoak said:

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

I was reading a few weeks back that supermarket eggs are the luxury end of the market. Eggs produced in Eastern Europe cost absolute buttons to the big producers.of processed food.

[dickymint]

rdjohn said:

grumbledoak said:

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

I was reading a few weeks back that supermarket eggs are the luxury end of the market. Eggs produced in Eastern Europe cost absolute buttons to the big producers.of processed food.

Actual data here suggests not that much cheaper. But I'd assume for processed food they aren't that fussed about freshness?

[Turn7]

dickymint said:

rdjohn said:

grumbledoak said:

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

I was reading a few weeks back that supermarket eggs are the luxury end of the market. Eggs produced in Eastern Europe cost absolute buttons to the big producers.of processed food.

Actual data here suggests not that much cheaper. But I'd assume for processed food they aren't that fussed about freshness?

Or any form of animal welfare….

[rdjohn]

Turn7 said:

dickymint said:

rdjohn said:

grumbledoak said:

This isn't bird flu. Simple economics. Farmers were warning a few years back that the rates supermarket paid for eggs were not going to cover rising costs and farmers facing such losses would simply not restock, e.g.
https://farming.co.uk/news/supermarkets-suffocatin...

I was reading a few weeks back that supermarket eggs are the luxury end of the market. Eggs produced in Eastern Europe cost absolute buttons to the big producers.of processed food.

Actual data here suggests not that much cheaper. But I'd assume for processed food they aren't that fussed about freshness?

Or any form of animal welfare .

This was the article that I read - the simple answer is not much Animal welfare