Category: Writing | Farm Posts

Aldi’s Eggs are MUCH Cheaper, Why?

It’s just efficient business practices, plain & simple. There’s absolutely no difference between Aldi’s eggs than those from big name grocery chains. In fact, they often all come from the same suppliers.
Their eggs are sold under the private label brand Goldhen. While the company does not publicly advertise its suppliers, industry tracking based on packaging plant codes indicates their major supplier is 1Rose Acre Farms, which is one of the largest egg producers in the United States. This same supplier often provides eggs for Walmart.
The Source of the Savings: Aldi’s low prices are the result of “no-frills” operational savings that are passed on to you. For example, about 90% of Aldi’s products are house brands. By cutting out the middleman of big name brands, they avoid paying for third party marketing and brand premiums. What does that mean? They deal more directly with manufacturers and skips extra layers that usually add cost. Big name brands means companies like Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola, or Doritos. Third party marketing refers to expensive advertising, TV commercials, celebrity endorsements, and large marketing campaigns those brands pay for. Brand premiums means customers often pay extra just because a product has a famous label.
How Aldi’s Keeps the Overhead Low: They operate with very small staffs, employees multitask and share duties, such as stocking, cashiering, etc. Customers bag their own groceries, which significantly lowers their overhead. Eggs arrive in display ready shipping boxes, meaning that instead of an employee stacking individual cartons on a shelf, they simply slide the entire shipping crate into the cooler. Also, Aldi doesn’t hire employees to gather carts from the parking lot. Instead, they require a quarter deposit to unlock a cart. This deposit is refunded to customers when they secure the cart back in the bay.
If Aldi’s hasn’t come to your neighborhood yet, I hope it does soon!

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  1. Rose Acre Farms is the second-largest egg producer in the United States. Headquartered in Seymour, Indiana, the company is a massive player in the agricultural sector, supplying shell eggs, specialty eggs, and processed egg products to major retailers, food service providers, and industrial manufacturers nationwide. The company manages roughly 25.5 million birds across 15 to 17 primary laying facilities spanning seven states, including Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona. ↩︎

The Reality of Chicken Keeping in a HOT Desert Climate

Phoenix, Arizona, is a great example of what chicken keeping is like when temperatures soar to 115+ degrees. This is not an exaggeration, and to be perfectly honest, 120 degrees is certainly not unheard of. Chickens are pretty hardy as a rule, but they are not invincible. They need special care when temperatures rise, you can learn more about that in the article below.

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Now that the chickens are taken care of, let’s talk about you, your role in all this, and what you can expect your days to look like during the hottest months of the year. You might be thinking you can handle the job for just a few months of summer, but Phoenix is a lot different. From May through October, the heat is relentless, with June, July, and August being especially brutal.
That means you’re out in the heat too, and not just once or twice a day. If the water in the drinkers gets too hot, the chickens will avoid it, and that can be a death sentence, so it has to be refilled with cooler water throughout the day. This is why auto drinkers and nipple drinkers should NEVER be used in desert climates. Mist systems and fans need to be adjusted and managed, and diligent housekeeping is imperative because chicken droppings create even more heat. To be clear, diligent means every day.
There may be a chicken that needs medical attention, things break, and problems are inevitable. When something goes wrong, you need to be out in the heat dealing with it. That’s the reality. I’ve been doing this for 14 years, so for me, it’s worth it. The question is, is it worth it for you?

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A List of Insects Your Chickens Will Eat

Chickens Are Natural Exterminators!

Chickens are natural foragers and are often referred to as “feathered raptors” because of their enthusiastic appetite for insects. Most bugs are excellent sources of protein and minerals. Here are the favorites…

Common Garden Favorites

Grasshoppers and Crickets: High energy snacks.
Beetles: Most common garden beetles, including June bugs and Japanese beetles.
Caterpillars: Chickens will clear out many types of larvae, though they might avoid brightly colored species.

The “Soil Dwellers”

Earthworms: A staple of the chicken diet and a primary protein source.
Grubs: These are the larvae of beetles and are excellent for their fat and protein content.
Mealworms: Perhaps the most famous chicken treat. Whether live or dried, chickens find these irresistible.

Pests They Help Control

Ticks and Fleas: Chickens are remarkably efficient at “vacuuming” a yard for ticks.
Spiders: Most common house and garden spiders are eaten without hesitation.
Termites: If they find a colony, they will stay there until every last one is gone.

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