People buying more chicks thanks to coronavirus

CHUBBUCK, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Chicks are flying off the shelves (not literally).

People nationally and locally are buying more hens in order to prepare for a potential egg shortage (there isn't one).

The Ogden Intermountain Farmers Association store sold 1,000 chicks in one day, according to Deseret News. Feed stores and agriculture businesses in San Antonio and Missouri are selling out of the backyard fowl.

Jim McKee, the owner of McKee's Pet Center in Chubbuck, says he's seeing the same trend.

“It’s hard to compare year to year, because we get some people who come in and buy a couple hundred baby chicks. But we’re getting a lot more people this year who are coming in and buying five or six chicks,” McKee said.

Pocatello limits residents to keeping five chickens on their city property, according to Animal Services Director, Josh Heinz.

“I’m assuming, and I don’t know that, but I’m assuming most of these guys are city folks raising chickens in their backyard again,” McKee said.

Most of the people who are flocking to the pet store have done their research, McKee said. But he still has to give some a reality check.

“A lot of them are new to it and we have to teach them how to take care of them and teach them what they need. They’re a little shocked when you tell them they won’t have eggs for five or six months,” McKee said.

See the full story on KIFI, Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m.