Trade Me search data might have cracked the question of what comes first - the chicken or the egg? Turns out, it's the chicken.
Interest in online auctions for chickens has more than doubled amid a nationwide egg shortage.
Trade Me spokesperson Ruby Topzand says searches for chickens, coops and feed had risen to more than 21,400 in the past week - up from 9300, a 129 percent increase.
A ban on battery-caged hens, announced back in 2012, came into effect at the end of last year. It left supermarket shelves sparse and prompted some stores to limit purchasing quantities.
A quick search of Trade Me showed egg-laying chickens for sale for anywhere between $25 and $50. Fertile eggs were listed for about a dollar each.
The SPCA in 2021 cautioned people from jumping into chicken ownership, urging careful thought about whether they had the time, resources and environment.
Consideration of the neighbours was also important, especially if a rooster was part of the flock.
Chickens needed a safe and enriching environment, it says, including shelter, nest boxes, a dust bathing area, and access to a safe outdoor area where they can exercise, scratch and forage.
It reminded people chickens needed company, and ideally they would be kept in a flock of at least three.
3 comments
Created
Posted on 06-01-2023 21:16 | By Kancho
This is no eggcident it is the result of government dictate. Not that I don't get the Idea behind it but with covid and a shakey economy it's a huge job to convert the industry of providing eggs. I guess some businesses found it too daunting to rebuild from the ground up in the time. So they have scaled back production as the build or decided it's too to much and expenditure too much so close down . I sympathize with them but it is a problem. Maybe it will be like coal that we have but not allowed to dig up or employ people so we import it to burn using inferior product and carbon miles to transport
Ban on imported products
Posted on 07-01-2023 14:30 | By Johnney
So how many imported food products have eggs derived from battery caged hens. I guess we just have double standards or ill thought rules.
expensive
Posted on 07-01-2023 14:30 | By terry hall
Keeping chickens is time consuming and expensive, 3-or-100 they need proper housing,vermin free ,perches, nest boxes, lots of space for scratching, they need extra feed ,meal ,pellets, grit, clean water, also mite dust, all this is expensive very expensive, it is to stop illness, and the eggs from getting salmonella, so think before you indulge.
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