As the US poultry industry continues to wrestle with an avian influenza outbreak sending egg prices skyrocketing, one American chicken farmer has gone viral after he made a video outlining the “real” reasons why eggs are so expensive at the moment. TikToker, content creator, and chicken farmer, @fatheracab, went on record to suggest that the “true” reason behind the sharp rise in the price of eggs in the US is because of the poor welfare that hens have to endure in many of the larger chicken factories. In short, he claims that the chickens are not dying from Bird Flu, but instead are dying due to “neglect.” On top of that, he believes that large companies are “price gouging” consumers as well.
With over 410,000 views at the time of writing, @fatheracab’s video breaks down how large manufacturers are using the Bird Flu as an excuse to jack up prices for consumers. “I’m a chicken farmer and they are bulls****ing you about the reasons why your eggs are so expensive.” he says in the opening. The chicken farmer then goes over some numbers that don’t quite add up to him. “Listen, when you consider the fact that we consume over 9 billion chickens a year in just meat alone. […] In 2023, we had over 382 million egg laying hens in this country alone. And so far, we’ve only lost 300 million birds worldwide. It doesn’t make sense. They say the same s*** every year.”
Next, the content creator takes aim at large egg facilities, which he believes are taking advantage of consumers by increasing prices and blaming it on the Bird Flu. “I see the same opportunity to jack up prices and yet choose not to. Listen, when you look at these large facilities, a lot of these birds aren’t dying of Bird Flu. They’re dying of neglect. They don’t give the vitamins, oregano supplements, all the supplements they are supposed to be getting in these mega facilities and these birds are dying of disease and neglect. And every time a bird dies, they say Bird Flu. I’m telling you, they are bulls****ing you.”
In a follow-up video, @fatheracab went even deeper to add more context to his controversial beliefs about egg prices in the US. “When you look at what they consider to be organically raised chickens, they’re not even checking for that. The USDA and all the inspectors, they don’t even check for that, right? So, if they’re not even checking to make sure that these birds are being fed organically, are you thinking that when they see a big ol’ pile of dead birds, they’re actually checking every bird died of Bird Flu?”
Going further, the farmer explains how he believes that there may even be some form of insurance fraud going on, “Let me ask you a question: If your birds that die of Bird Flu and you a big producer and it’s through no fault of your own, that’s insurance, right? Hmm. But if it’s through fault of your own, you can blame Bird Flu while also jacking up prices. It’s a win-win.“
As the clip continues to gain traction online, netizens took the comments section to weigh in on the controversial take. Over on X, one user from Mexico added, “I live in Mexico. Plenty of eggs available. Never have I heard on the news here or anywhere else that they had to cull a flock. I guess the sick birds just keep flying south.” Finally, one commenter on TikTok who allegedly worked for Tyson Foods, wrote: “I’ve hauled feed into Tyson facilities before. Not ate anything processed by Tyson since“.
