Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Utah lawmakers eased regulations, allowing small producers to sell backyard eggs.
- Egg prices have surged, making backyard chickens a cost-saving option for some.
- Kristina Enz values knowing how her chickens are treated and fed.
SALT LAKE CITY — Kristina Enz raises backyard chickens. When Get Gephardt first met her back in 2023, we were doing a story about how egg prices had surged to $4.82 following a bird flu that year.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, egg prices are now on average approximately $7.09. Over the past five years, eggs have gone up 330% from the $1.65 we paid per dozen in December 2019.
Enz said raising backyard chickens, which lay eggs, has saved her money in the long run – but getting started was a money loser.
The average chick sells for $3 to $5. Coops, depending on what you want and need, run anywhere from $150 to several thousand dollars.
"It doesn't even need to be that big," Enz said. "I mean, for two or three hens, you just need a pen, maybe by 4 feet by 2 feet is all and just a place where they can sleep at night."
Enz said you'll need a feeder and a water container, which cost about $5 to $10. A bale of straw for the coop's floor will cost about $7.
The price of feed can go up and down, but, generally, a 50-pound bag costs about $20. And that bag will last.
"If you have two or three hens, that 50-pound bag is going to last you a month," Enz said.
Utah lawmakers have made it easier to recoup some of your costs if you want to sell your backyard eggs, now mandating that regulators "may not prevent the sale of shell eggs from a small producer."
If everything goes well, you can expect a hen in its prime to lay up to 250 eggs a year. With three hens, that will fill nearly 63 one-dozen cartons. If you sold them all at $7.09 a dozen, that would earn you back $443.13.
For Enz, it isn't about saving or making money. She said she likes knowing how her chickens are treated and fed.
"Mine forage for bugs, they get a healthy feed, they get grains, they get our kitchen scraps – they get a nice, wide variety of diet," Enz said.
If backyard chickens aren't a realistic option for you, there are other ways to get eggs without having to scramble for extra cash.
Farms or farmer's markets tend to have lower prices. So do warehouse clubs, and, maybe you didn't know, if you buy eggs in bulk, you can freeze them to make them last longer — just not in their shells.
