Summary
Canada has avoided the severe egg shortages and soaring prices seen in the U.S. due to differences in farming practices and regulations.
While avian flu has devastated large American egg farms, Canada’s smaller farms and tightly sealed barns have limited the impact.
The U.S.’s industrialized egg industry, driven by cost efficiency, is vulnerable to supply shocks when outbreaks occur.
Canada’s supply management system ensures stable production and restricts imports, keeping farms smaller. Meanwhile, U.S. consumers face continued egg price surcharges and supply pressures.
Another major factor is that Canada raises more of their chickens indoors due to how cold it gets, significantly decreasing their risk of exposure to avian flu.
The US has way more free-range chickens, and free-range chickens are most at risk.
I’ve seen tons of videos of people who actually free range their chickens, actually outside, and they’ve had no avian flu problems with their chickens. 🤔
You’ve seen some videos of free range chickens that don’t have avian flu and think that constitutes evidence that avian flu isn’t a problem for free range chickens…?
actually its overcrowding in farms too, they have indoor farms where its considered free range, but enough chickens to become crowded and you see dead chickens that are discovered til later.
Yes and no. Free range in America means “raised in a huge building and never seeing sunlight.” Basically what separates them from cage free is that thousands of birds all share one giant cage instead of four birds to a cage inside the larger cage.
Pasture raised are the ones that get to go outside and eat bugs in the sunshine.
Canada is a bit different in its designations. ‘Free run’ means they’re in the barn and ‘free range’ means they have access outside the barn (weather permitting ofc).
The chickens that are outside eating bugs in the sunshine are the most likely to catch avian flu due to exposure to wild birds 😕
they are more spread out, so less chance of getting h5n1, some brands use pasture, garden raised and they are less likely to be recalled for avian flu, of course these are more expensive too.
when you are super-crowded indoors, viruses spread more easily.
Do you have a source that free range chickens are less likely to get avian flu? Because in the article it mentions chickens that don’t have contact with nature outside a facility are less likely to get it
But if they do catch it, they’re way less likely to spread it to a literal million other chickens, so there’s that
That’s the rub.
And they pick each other to death in those “free range” areas.
Not sure if it’s still this way, but a documentary years ago described the ridiculous technicality that allowed a farm to call themselves free range. It was like a door that led outside to a 4 foot cube area shared by thousands and thousands of chicken. Basically enough room for like three chickens to spread their wings… If they happened to find the door, and it wasn’t already crowded… And they were actually able to walk.
I wish more people knew that information.