This is why egg prices are skyrocketing, but not chicken wings: npr

The economical riddle before the Super Bowl is where bird prices go through the roof. This is because the stubborn outbreak of bird flu is plagued by chickens soaking in the country’s eggs. So why did chicken wings barely swell?

Despite some supermarkets rationing eggs, the wings remain plentiful and affordable, with Waffle House adding an extra per 50 cents this week. The Wings will be the center of many Super Bowls this weekend, making it a relief for football fans.

The reason why chicken and egg prices are not moving in parallel has to do with the very different sacrifices in which avian flu consumed birds that were raised for egg-producing birds and meat.

Nationwide, egg farmers lost more than 38 million birds to the flu last year. In December alone, there were almost 14 million people. It has placed a crack in the country’s egg supply, and it shows no signs of mitigation. Once the egg-soaked flock of chickens is wiped out, it takes six months to a year to recover.

“Egg farmers are in the fight for life to keep the disease at bay, keep the chickens safe and maintain their eggs,” says 14 million spawning hens in Indiana, Illinois, Texas. says Sam Cruz, a farmer who oversees the herd. Georgia. “We know it can be frustrating for consumers who want to buy eggs at a familiar price.”

But chicken wings are another problem

Chickens raised for meat known as “broilers” live on farms that differ from those that produce eggs. And while broilers are not immune to avian flu, they are not as hard as their egg-laying cousins.

“They are typically younger and older birds are susceptible to the virus,” says Tom Super of the National Chicken Council. “And the broiler chickens haven’t been on the farm for a long time either. It’s only about seven weeks.”

That short lifecycle means that a swarm of broilers can be exchanged fairly quickly when it is lost to the flu.

Demand for chicken wings rose 12% during the NFL playoffs compared to the previous month. Despite that surge, the wing’s prices remained grounded and were just below the five-year average.

And I’ll be eating lots of wings this weekend

The American Chicken Council predicts that Americans will increase their wings to 1.47 billion over Super Bowl weekend.

“They’re just a great group of social food,” says Super. “And the Buffalo Wing Spires, they pair it very well with a nice, cold beer.”

The Buffalo Wings take their name from Buffalo, New York. There, Anchor Bar popularized spicy snacks decades ago. Had the Buffalo bill been going on forever, it could have been even stronger this year. However, the Bills lost the conference championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Many Eagles fans get wings with jug handles that score near the pecking order, consistently among Philadelphia winghouses. The restaurant is scheduled to do an active takeout business on Sunday.

“We start cooking until 7am and 8am and then go up to match time,” says Kevin Stone, who owns a jug handle inn with his wife, Nicole. “I think we had about 23 or 25,000 wings in the last Super Bowl.”

Stone is working with his chicken wholesaler and says there should be plenty of wings this weekend. Look at the play clock.

“Don’t wait until 2am on the day you call,” Stone says. “Get your order early.”

Another bargain on the Super Bowl table: The price of celery, often offered with chicken wings, has dropped by more than 8% from a year ago.