All eggs sold in Colorado now must come from cage-free chickens after a new state law went into effect on Jan. 1. But the change comes at a complicated time for egg producers.
The cage-free egg requirement is contributing to higher prices consumers have been paying at the grocery store. Colorado State University agricultural economist Dawn Thilmany said the bill supporters couldn鈥檛 foresee it would go into effect during a wave of crises in the usually boring egg market.
鈥淭here was all good intentions about passing this law,鈥� Thilmany said. 鈥淏ut between food price inflation being up just generally and the avian influenza, it has been really troublesome for the industry.鈥�
Cage-free eggs are one of many alternatives to conventionally produced eggs. In a , you鈥檒l see birds crowded into small, stacked cages, with little room to move around or spread their wings. It鈥檚 a very efficient method, but animal welfare advocates say it鈥檚 cruel to the birds. That鈥檚 why state legislators passed , the cage-free egg law in 2020.
According to the state law, each hen is entitled to 1.5 square feet of open floor space with unfettered access to perches and other vertical spaces. The intent is to provide that accommodates the birds鈥� natural behaviors.
鈥淭he producers being impacted here is going to be anybody who is selling or distributing eggs for sale within Colorado from a facility with 3000 or more egg-laying hens,鈥� said Dan Zangari with the Colorado Department of Agriculture. 鈥淲e have several producers in Colorado, and they are all fully cage-free at this point.鈥�
At least have similar laws either pending or on the books. By 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture estimates that cage-free laws will apply to at least 16% of the industry.
According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, local producers have been preparing for the change for several years.
But all the preparations in the world couldn鈥檛 keep the new law from affecting the price of eggs. That鈥檚 because it鈥檚 just costlier to produce cage-free eggs, Thilmany said.
鈥淵ou need more land, by definition, because of what the roaming capacity for the birds has to be. Land is expensive,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd there's more labor, because chickens aren't friendly animals. They'll pick on each other. You need some people interfacing with the birds more frequently. And the bird is being able to roam. So, you're probably not going to have the same feed conversion rate, because they're spending energy moving around.鈥�
But, because so many producers transitioned to cage-free systems well ahead of the deadline, the market already absorbed those costs months or years ago.
鈥淭he good news is, it is already baked in,鈥� Thilmany said. 鈥淏ut the demand pressure is going to go down. Unless something really ramps up with avian influenza or some other shock that isn't about cage free, you've seen probably your high prices for this winter.鈥�
She added that consumers might even see a little relief from high egg prices in the new year as high holiday-season demand eases.
She also noted that the cage-free law is not responsible for the recent shortage of eggs on grocery shelves. That had more to do with high holiday demand and chicken flocks devastated by bird flu.
鈥淲e have five Colorado Commercial egg layer facilities and all of them have been at one point or another, impacted by highly pathogenic avian influenza,鈥� said Olga Robak, with the Colorado Department of Agriculture. 鈥淚n fact, Colorado has lost more than 100% of our egg-laying chickens since 2022. Highly pathogenic and avian influenza certainly has had an effect on the number of hens nationwide that are laying eggs, and so that is contributing to some of the supply issues we've been seeing.鈥�
Some smaller producers have seen an unexpected benefit to the new law. Aaron Rice is the owner of , a small poultry and pig farm in Wellington. Rice鈥檚 flock is not directly impacted by the new law 鈥� his flock is well under 3,000 birds and he already raises them on pasture. But, Rice said the cage-free requirement levels the playing field a little bit for smaller, non-industrial egg producers like him.
鈥淭he higher prices of eggs are normalizing what we do and maybe showing a little bit closer to the true cost of the production side,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淎nd oftentimes we have a better capacity to meet the local demand. We'll see some new customers coming in looking for something that's a little more reliable, and then they'll realize the quality difference.鈥�
Rice added that any developments that raise consumer awareness about the food system is good for local producers.
鈥淚t helps us having people think more about their eggs and where they come from. And then understanding that there are production models where chickens are shoved in cages and not given any space,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd maybe they can start thinking further about how I actually want my chickens treated that are producing the food that I eat. 鈥�
