AP Fact Check: Egg Shortage Spawns Chicken Conspiracies

Social media users claim to have found a new culprit for sky-high egg prices: chicken feed.

The theory has gone viral on Facebook, TikTok and Twitter in recent weeks, with some users reporting that their chickens have stopped laying eggs and speculating that conventional chicken feeds were the cause. Some have gone as far as to say that the feed manufacturers deliberately made their products scarce in order to stop home garden egg production, forcing people to buy eggs at inflated prices.

“One of the largest egg producers in the country made a deal with one of the largest feed manufacturers in the country to change their feed formula so that it no longer contains enough protein and minerals for your chickens to produce eggs,” one Facebook user wrote. . in a post that has been shared over 2,000 times. “Now they’re inflating the price of eggs to make money.”

But poultry experts say there is no evidence for such claims. Here’s a closer look at the facts.

DEMAND: Chicken feed companies have changed their products to discourage home hens from laying eggs and increase demand for commercial eggs.

DATA: US grocery store egg prices have more than doubled over the past year due to an outbreak of bird flu, coupled with rising labor and supply costs.

Some backyard chicken owners may have found their chickens not doing well, but experts say the problems are unrelated. While feed quality can affect laying ability of laying hens, state agriculture officials told The Associated Press they have not heard of any widespread feed problems affecting egg production, and several major feed suppliers say they didn’t change their formulas.

Experts say there are much more mundane explanations for poor poultry production.

“Is there a broad conspiracy? No, there is no broad conspiracy,” said Todd Applegate, professor of poultry science at the University of Georgia. “Apart from feed, there are many, perhaps even more, things from the management and from the bird’s habitat that create various things that can cause it to either go out of production or reduce its production.”

More than 43 million of the 58 million birds killed last year to fight the bird flu virus were laying hens, according to the Associated Press.

“Due to widespread bird flu, we have had to reduce the population of millions of laying hens. And when you take that many hens out of production, there are fewer eggs left,” said Ken Anderson, a poultry specialist at North Carolina State University. “And when there are fewer eggs, the price goes up.”

US Senator Jack Reid of Rhode Island and a farmer-led advocacy group have called for an investigation into potential egg price gouging by producers. But there is no evidence that changing chick feeds causes egg prices to skyrocket.

Agriculture officials in several states, including North Carolina and Georgia, told the AP they had not received reports of widespread problems.

“Our members have not really heard any definitive reports of any relationship between feed and egg production,” said Austin Terrell, executive director of the American Association of Feed Control Officials, a group of local, state, and federal agencies responsible for feed regulation. for animals. .

Terrell noted, however, that officials have responded to questions from people who have seen the feed-related claims on social media.

Experts say other factors may explain anecdotal reports of poor egg production in home gardens. Limited daylight hours in winter can reduce or stop hens from laying eggs, as can cold weather, Applegate says. Improperly stored feed can spoil and affect egg production.

“Home flock producers do not necessarily follow lighting programs to support peak egg production,” Anderson said. “Many people who live in the backyard use natural daylight.”

Many social media users have claimed that specific feed products, such as those offered by Purina Animal Nutrition and Tractor Supply, a chain of farm supply stores, are to blame. Some have said that their hens started laying again after they changed the feed or made their own. But the companies deny that their products are to blame.

“We confirm that Purina poultry feed formulations have not changed,” Brooke Dillon, spokesperson for Land O’Lakes, the parent company of Purina Animal Nutrition, wrote in an email. Similarly, Mary Wynn Pilkington, spokesperson for Tractor Supply, stated that her suppliers have confirmed that the “nutrition profile” of their feed has not changed.

According to Adam Fahrenholz, an associate professor of feed production at North Carolina State University, feed recalls have been caused in the past due to poor nutrition. But while feed nutrition problems, such as lack of protein, can reduce egg production, he didn’t see the point in online claims of a massive conspiracy.

“I don’t find it plausible at all in terms of a deliberate, large-scale, you know, planned event,” Farenholtz added.

The conspiracy that feed companies are deliberately trying to sabotage backyard egg supplies has found an audience thanks to a wider distrust of government officials and experts, said Yotam Ofir, an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo who handles disinformation. According to him, people tend to look for scapegoats during times of social unrest. The statements join other recent conspiracies, claiming that a coordinated effort is undermining the nation’s food base.

“The official version reminds us that sometimes we are vulnerable to the accidents of nature,” Ophir said.