Rural retailer reports boom in surprising product as customers struggle with egg prices

The largest rural retailer in the US is seeing customers flock to stores for a surprising solution to their egg-spensive breakfast dilemma. 

Tractor Supply Co said it has quickly sold out of its baby chicks in hundreds of storefronts as the price of eggs is soaring.

Every year, the company hosts its Spring Chick Days sale, where it sells an average of 10 million chicks. 

But at this year's event, which started in mid-February, consumer interest in the chicks has been at fever pitch. 

In a statement to Daily Mail, the company said it sells chicks for an average of $5 each. The average customer bought 14 chicks in each transaction. 

'It is by far the most exciting part of the year,' Zach Landmesser, a store manager at a Tractor Supply in Pennsylvania told local ABC-affiliate WNEP. 

'It's the cuteness, for sure. Then, with everything going on now, the fresh eggs, they just taste different.' 

The yearly event is perfectly timed with growing frustration over egg prices in American grocery stores. 

U.S. farmers have been struggling with a deadly pandemic of bird flu through much of the last year. 

In January, around 23 million birds had been culled as farmers attempted to stop the spread of the disease. Of the millions of killed domesticated birds, 18.8 million were bred 'layers,' or hens that specialized in egg production. 

The mass loss of egg-laying hens has sent supply for the eggs into a tailspin. Meanwhile, American demand for the product has consistently grown. 

Conflicting supply and demand shifts have sent the price of eggs skyrocketing, and, apparently, customers looking for interesting solutions. The average price for a dozen eggs in the U.S. in early March 2025 is $4.95. 

'We have seen interest in raising chickens grow for a while,' a Tractor Supply Co spokesperson told the Daily Mail.  

'In fact, today one in five Tractor Supply customers raises chickens, as do 13 percent of households in the U.S. In the past five years, the number of annual poultry shoppers in our stores has increased by more than 50 percent.' 

Shoppers are also scooping up tons of items to help raise their chickens, including chicken feed. The store said consumers can expect to buy a 50-pound bag of feed every 33 weeks. 

Chicks are not bred to live inside of homes. So, the Spring Chick Day sales include hundreds of products, like bird feed, coops and pens, and do-it-yourself guidebooks. 

But the investment needed to upkeep chicks likely cuts into the potential cost savings of hen ownership, experts warn. 

Tractor Supply's spokesperson admitted buying chicks is unlikely to be a financially prudent decision for most shoppers. 

Instead, grocery prices are galvanizing customers who had been thinking about buying chicks before the flu outbreak.  

'Egg prices certainly make people think about getting into this hobby, however if you are just looking to save money on eggs, then backyard poultry is not a quick fix,' the spokesperson added. 

'It takes 18-22 weeks before chickens are mature enough to lay eggs, and it's an investment of time and money to care for them.' 

It comes as the federal government has ramped up attempts to slow down the spread of bird flu and make eggs cheaper. 

Last week, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the cause of egg inflation.

However, experts are lukewarm on the government's ability to respond to the virus. 

The government is debating the use of vaccines that could slow down the rate of infection in American farms. 

Medicines that could inoculate flocks have already been developed, but they could pose an issue for American farms that export their products to other countries. 

Several countries do not accept meat from vaccinated birds because the vaccines risk masking viral spread.