Most years, Franchesca Duval, who operates Alchemist Farms in Sebastopol, sees a spring rush for her newly hatched chicks, especially around Easter time.
But not this year.
“What I’m seeing is people ordering much sooner than years past,” said Duval. “I had an extremely busy January and February.”
Demand this year for eggs, and the creatures that lay them, is a result of the national egg shortage that’s been mostly attributed to the avian flu outbreak. On a local level, it’s not the sickness itself that’s the problem.
“People are preparing and bracing themselves for potential food shortages, because they have no idea what the supply chain is going to do,” Duval said, explaining her customers don’t want to deal with that anymore. “They want to be more self-reliant.”
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