BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. — When Sarah Esther acted on her impulse, she bought chickens. Twelve of them.
More people are reaching out to her lately, hoping to curb the sky-high egg prices seen in grocery stores.
Now, four years later, she has anywhere between 75 to 100 chickens in her backyard to keep up with demand.
“I get calls almost every single day asking me if I have laying hens,” Esther said.
More people are reaching out to her, hoping to avoid soaring egg prices at supermarkets, but she warns that it’s not as cheap and easy as many may think.
“There are no free eggs,” Esther said. “I think our first day cost us $1,000, so between buying the 12 birds and raising them building a coop, [it’s costly].”
Not to mention putting up fencing, medicine, feed, and the list can go on—the price tag adds up.
“I have purchased a few of the production egg hens just to keep up with demand,” Esther said. “Just because I’ve had so many customers over the last few years, just with anxious people wanting farm fresh eggs.”
In recent months, she’s answered more calls on setups for backyard chickens and says there’s more to consider.
“It’s difficult, you know. You got to feed them. They get sick, they get injured,” Esther explained. “You buy chickens and you’re putting a food source in your backyard and that sounds horrible, but to birds of prey to foxes, raccoons, they’re not pets. They are food.”
Esther said she dedicated hours of research, joined chicken groups, and educated herself on home poultry farming.
“With the current craze that’s going on, I would encourage people just to do their due diligence research,” Esther said.
To educate more people interested in home poultry farming, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment has created an online training program. It’s targeted at educating general-practice veterinarians on small and backyard poultry flock challenges.