Could alternative eggs bring relief to high chicken egg prices?

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has a lot of turkey farms. Could alternative eggs be a solution to rising chicken egg prices?

An expert said the switch wouldn’t be that easy.

“Turkey eggs have never been an option. It’s just not viable production-wise,” said Shayn Bowler, the owner of Utah Natural Meat and Milk.

The problem with alternative eggs

While it seems like a good idea to look to other birds like turkeys and ducks, the eggs would likely cost more.

“They don’t produce nearly the quantity, and it takes them a long time to produce. And in the commercial system, they’ll butcher the turkeys before they even get old enough to produce eggs,” said Bowler.

While chickens lay an egg daily, turkeys usually only lay one every few days. Most birds’ egg-laying is affected by the seasons, but turkeys especially tend to only lay in the spring and summer months.

Additionally, turkeys and ducks eat more than chickens. The higher amount of feed and less efficient egg-laying would only increase costs. 

But Bowler said there’s a bigger issue at hand and it’s one of our own making.

“If you’ve seen commercial chicken farms, they’re in small areas, packed inside a building. They don’t develop an immune system and if anything comes along, they’re in big trouble. And I think that we have caused the problem we’re experiencing,” said Bowler.

He has seen all food prices going up and shortages increasing over the last several years.

“We have weakened our animals’ immune systems in the name of production and cost-effectiveness to the point where we’ve left ourselves in a vulnerable food production state,” said Bowler.

He said our system of mass producing and bad conditions has set a precedent for cheap prices when we should really be investing in the production of our food.

“Your question is, how do we get food that’s not so expensive. And I’m saying, we should have never been that cheap,” said Bowler.

Britt Johnson is a reporter and anchor for KSL NewsRadio.  

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• Costco recall and bird flu driving egg shortage in Utah