Where did the Easter Bunny hide the eggs? In any case, they are no longer where you normally find them: on supermarket shelves. Sometimes there is in a Berliner Edeka no more organic eggs. At one Rewe there were only those of the lowest husbandry level, and some in the boxes were even damaged. Apparently not an isolated case, hoho! The Federal Egg Association warned of an Easter egg shortage last week.
Crisis, emergency everywhere. Gasoline prices are rising and the rents, now the eggs may become more expensive. One can only hope that the topic is up to date Easter doesn’t continue to boil up and then takes care of itself. Otherwise someone will definitely demand an egg price cap or a maximum sales quantity. Whereupon justice would be discussed because some people ultimately rely on higher egg consumption, for example because of their deliberately high-protein diet. An authority that has yet to be set up would have to decide on the correct allocation.
With Easter approaching, there isn’t enough time for that. Things will work out that way. And while this is happening, humans can learn something from the chicken. About economics.
Working harder probably won’t solve the problem. It’s also often demanded elsewhere, keyword: less work-life balance and more hard work and so on. We all have to give more. Or rather: lay.
Difficult. At least domestically, the number of laying hens has become smaller the Federal Information Center for Agriculture recently announced. So the workforce is shrinking. In return, the performance of the remaining chickens increases. The average hen laid exactly 299 eggs in 2025, four more eggs than the year before. This only corresponds to a negligible productivity growth of just over one percent, but given the fact that a wild chicken lays just 20 eggs a yearperhaps to apologize. With the best will in the world, you won’t be able to get much more out of these poor animals. If many of them weren’t living in cramped spaces, they would immediately have to be told that they’ve already gone the extra mile.
Fun fact: Similar to human employees who are forced to do more and more work by their bosses, sickness rates also increase among overworked laying hens. Here it is burnout and psychological suffering, there it is bird flu and new diseases such as Newcastle Disease that are noticeably increasing. This problem is usually solved quickly and unbureaucratically, most recently in a stable in the southern Harz where 40,000 infected animals were killed last autumn. This avoids rising health costs, which some “try harder!” preachers may find inspiring, but at the same time reduces the chicken workforce and increases the supply problem – according to the Federal Egg Association, this is one reason for the current egg shortage.
This could of course be alleviated by refraining from consumption. Unfortunately, consumption is currently increasing, which, according to the association, is also exacerbating the egg shortage. Last year, every German consumed 252 eggs per capita. That was four more than before. The four eggs that the average chicken squeezed out of its battered body were immediately eaten by the average German. The Federal Information Center for Agriculture cites, among other things, the recent protein boom as reasons. Who would have thought? After all, protein is colloquially called egg white. Part of the explanation is already in the word. More muscles, fewer balls. If you want to build up here, you’re inevitably going to dismantle it. And be it the shelf level at Edeka.
If you like, you can help yourself. Private poultry farming is an alternative, but you shouldn’t be under any illusions. A garden is helpful, if not a requirement. The demands on flower beds should be low because chickens like to scratch. And they mess up. If you have neighbors who are sensitive to smells, you are better prepared for conflicts. But chickens are quite entertaining and their social behavior is more exciting to watch than most social media feeds. Oh, and they also provide eggs. That’s what it was all about.
Apartment owners are worse off. Scratching and pooping don’t mix well with parquet. Unfortunately, the market doesn’t have a real solution here either. Around 2018, the US start-up Pampered Poultry tried to at least address the feces problem by selling washable chicken diapers. However, no current information about the company has been available for several years. A few products are still advertised on Amazon (“We offer high-quality fashion for your poultry”), but they don’t seem to be available. The market for chicken diapers is probably smaller than expected. Or rather: keeping livestock in apartments is basically a stupid idea.
So, Easter or not, you will have to live with shortages. A certain level of casualness is recommended. And flexibility. Eggs can be substituted for baking the animal rights activists from PETA recommend including applesauce, pumpkin puree and church heir water. It’s more difficult elsewhere. Children might be disappointed if the Easter Bunny hides a vegan substitute instead of eggs. But with enough chocolate, you’ll certainly be able to distract them (and yourself) until the holidays are over.