Okay, I just got back from the grocery store a little while ago. I don't go in very often anymore, but I was craving a spinach salad and I had everything but eggs. Can you believe it? I have 10 hens and no eggs! Yes, I know that chickens molt, but all ten at once? This is why I keep several different breeds; so that they hopefully would molt at different times. And no, they aren't even showing signs of molting; some already molted before Christmas. For whatever reason, the "girls" are not wintering over as well as they have in the past. Perhaps they are getting a bit spoiled in the Hen Hilton and think it should be located in the Bahamas or something.
Anyway, back to my story... I go into the store to get just three items - one of which is a dozen eggs. First, I had to search for some that were organic. This is California for cry'in out loud! Where were the organic eggs? Finally found one kind that was organic hidden way in the back and I go to put them in my cart. Daughter #1 grabs my arm and says, "Mom! Do you know how much those are?" Yeah, around $4 I'm thinking...
No longer.
Can you believe they were $5! I decided I did't really want egg on my salad after all and left without them. (It's two hours later and I'm still hyperventilating! Does anyone in the USA pay $5 for eggs at the store - other than at Whole Foods, I mean?)
Now, I don't mean to complain. And I really appreciate that farmer who is bucking the system and going organic. He isn't getting rich, I'm sure. But, hello there! I'm going broke!
California is raising 12.8% of the nations total agriculture products and ships another 10 billion dollars worth of ag products to 156 other countries. But can we afford our own stuff? Apparently not.
If I had any question in my mind that my hens were worth the feed I purchase, I am now totally convinced. A bag of organic lay pellets is running me around $24, which I thought was high, but if I get 5 dozen eggs from one bag of feed, I'm at least breaking even with what the grocery store is charging. But... nobody's laying. Girls? Girls!!
No comment.
Well, all I have to say is somebody better start earning their keep!
