MISSOULA — Demand for chicks has literally flown the coop due to concerns over high egg prices and bird flu.
Chicks are in short supply and the effects of the shortage are rippling across Montana, impacting some 4-H programs.
This is 11-year-old Wiley Kelley’s fourth year participating in a 4-H poultry project. But, so far, it has looked a little bit different than the previous years.
“It was really interesting to end up getting birds this year,” he said. “It was rough because most all of our hatcheries couldn't get chicks out and you have to have your birds laying by fair.”
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Kelley is not alone. Plenty of 4-H participants in Missoula and Ravalli counties have had trouble tracking down birds.
“A lot of them have indicated to me that they want to get chicks this year, but really haven't been able to,” said Virginia Chaffin, a poultry leader in Ravalli County.
She told MTN that some of her 4-H families called to check on their chick orders.
“The hatchery said, ‘Well, you're number 60 on our list, so you might not get them for a while'," Chaffin said. “Looking at some of the hatchery sites on the internet, some of them are just out of birds, don't have them, or they're saying even now delivering not until maybe June or July, which is going to be bad because our fair is in August.”
This could spell trouble, as the chicks need time to mature before kids can show them off at the fairs.
“In the auctioneering, they're not gonna do quite as well if they're younger because they just don't look like a big, beautiful laying hen yet,” said one of Missoula County 4-H’s poultry leaders Heidi West.
Participants have been flocking after chicks for their projects. At Axmen, which sells farm supplies in Missoula, chicks have been pre-sold for months.
“It’s been nuts,” said Feed Manager Kyle Glenn. “I’ve had a lot of 4-H leaders and that kind of stuff call and just say ‘Hey, do you guys have any chicks?’ And I'm like, 'Sorry, no, your best bet is just to go straight through the hatchery'."
Glenn is directing people to the nearest hatchery, more than seven hours away from Missoula in Idaho — or to wait a year until the markets calm down.
Poultry leaders and participants leaned on local feed stores to help snag their chicks.
“I think we probably called them every day and showed up every day trying to track down birds,” West said. “Once they would know that a shipment is coming, they were really good about calling us and letting us know so we could go and get in line and pick up birds.”
But, even those who got chicks, had some troubles. A big chick order by several Missoula County participants got stuck during a winter storm —one of many delayed chick shipments.
“We finally managed to get some birds, but we did have two die just because they were so sick,” said 4-H Participant Karly Kerscher.
With the market scrambled, some who got chicks had to switch up their projects.
“One family went down to get chicks early in the morning. They were already gone except for bantams, which wasn't what she wanted, but she said, ‘I came home with 3 bantams anyway,’” Chaffin said.
Despite the problems, the 4-H programs are determined to keep kids participating in poultry.
“I think part of 4-H is learning to deal with maybe some tougher situations that you might not deal with otherwise," West said. "Because there are so many things that can go wrong when you're raising animals and a lot of them aren't in your control."
Among them is the national conversation around bird flu and egg prices. Chaffin said it’s all supply and demand. Hatcheries will catch up.
But, Chaffin hopes those flocking after chicks are prepared to care for them.
“It's quite a commitment both in time and money when they have these birds,” Chaffin said. “Hopefully, we don't have a glut of eggs come this fall when they all start maturing.”
As they wait out the bird market, prep for the fair continues. Ravalli County 4-H is still on the hunt, but Missoula County’s poultry pens are chock full of enough chicks for fair.
Kerscher, Kelley and the leaders are already excited.
“In March, we got two shipments of chicks, so we think they're going to be good to go to fair,” Kerscher said.
