It’s not easy right now for Americans to buy eggs. With avian flu on the rise, more than 35 million chickens have been culled in the U.S. so far in 2025, which has pushed the price of eggs up 53 percent since last year. Retailers like Costco and Trader Joe’s are capping the number of cartons each shopper can buy. Some Americans are reporting that eggs in their local stores are selling out within 10 minutes of becoming available.
With indications that the egg shortage is likely to continue and even worsen, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently offered a solution on Fox News: Americans might consider raising chickens in their backyards—a suggestion she was roundly mocked for, with the HuffPost describing it as “clucked-up.”
Did her advice sound a little apocalyptic? Maybe. Is it naive to suggest that most Americans have the time and space for chickens? Sure. But as someone who once kept chickens in a backyard in New York City, and who has been proselytizing for years about how fun and easy it is, our columnist Larissa Phillips found Rollins’s suggestion quite charming.
In today’s essay, she tells the story of her life-changing decision to buy a few chicks—which will inspire and guide any Free Pressers who are thinking of following in her footsteps. But first: a video, in which Larissa explains the basics of keeping chickens. —The Editors