Colorado eggs could cost you more in the New Year
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Starting tomorrow, caged egg sales across Colorado will be illegal. A new law is going into effect that requires all large egg producers to sell cage-free eggs.
The new law impacts farmers with over 3,000 chickens. They had to allow room in the enclosures for the hens to fly, walk, eat, and drink freely-- unlike when they're locked in individual cages.
However, it's important to note that "cage-free" is not the same as free-range chickens.
The executive director of Colorado Egg Producers says cage-free eggs come with added costs, meaning consumers could be shelling out higher prices at the store.
"That's going to be about a 15-17% increase on a dozen of eggs," said Bill Scebbi.
Scebbi says this new law shouldn't affect the current egg shortage, which he says is tied to a nationwide outbreak of avian flu. He also adds that shoppers can't expect to see shelves fully restocked until about late March.
Mo Eggs is a local farm in Black Forest. The chickens can run around and enjoy the outdoors in their free-range space.
The new Colorado law requires hens to be cage-free, but cage-free isn't the same as free-range.
Morgan Hamilton, the owner of Mo Eggs, is a fifth-generation farmer. She says she's been raising chickens her whole life. In Black Forest, she's been producing free-range eggs for over a decade.
"When they're out in the elements, they get to have a pretty wide variety of foods to eat, and it's so important. Chickens are scavengers and they're also omnivores, which means they eat everything. It's really important for them. And it does make a difference in the egg quality and the shell quality," Hamilton explained, "so to me, it's really important that they're as healthy as they can be."
That's why she allows them to roam in the grass and get outside, unlike cage-free hens that stay indoors.
"They have roosting areas and they have feeding areas," explained Scebbi.
He says it's been a long journey to get to this point.
"It's been a process, and all of our retailers and all of our farms are ready to go with it," said Scebbi.
He says Colorado farmers with over 3,000 hens have made adjustments to qualify as cage-free, but with that comes extra costs.
"It has numbers connected to it. It has inspections connected to it. It has certifications connected to it. So it's quite a different system than just going out and buying eggs. And that's what people are seeing between conventional production and cage-free," the Executive Director shared.
