Eggs are increasingly expensive in grocery stores, with their prices rising 17% in just two years, prompting more and more citizens to buy laying hens in order to gain some food independence.
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According to agri-food industry specialist Sylvain Charlebois, the increase targeting eggs is abnormal, even given the context.
“We are talking regarding 17%, which is above the average; the current average at the grocery store is regarding 10-11%, ”he explains to TVA Nouvelles.
In response to this increase, more and more households are turning to the purchase of laying hens.
“More and more people, in fact, have pets [de ferme] at home. It is estimated that approximately 3 to 5% of the Canadian population currently has some kind of farm animal at home,” adds Mr. Charlebois.
The pandemic would therefore have been the spark plug of a movement: food independence.
“The two years of the pandemic, really, it was crazy years. There was a lack of chickens everywhere and the orders were overflowing everywhere, ”says François Lecours, owner of La Ferme du Barbu.
The breeder is also not convinced that the purchase of farm animals is a good economic strategy for individuals.
“If we calculate the feed, the purchase of the hens, the hen house, the maintenance … it is sure that it is more expensive than a dozen that we would buy at the grocery store”, details t- he.
Some municipalities in Quebec also prohibit the presence of hens in residential yards.
