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‘Got me looking into buying chickens’: TikTokers are showing off their chicken coops as egg prices rise

Who’s your dealer?

Photo of Audra Schroeder

Audra Schroeder

people outside holding eggs in front of chicken coop with caption 'POV: You suddenly become the neighborhood 'Egg Dealers'' (l) person grabbing egg from chicken coop (c) person on phone holding egg while other person stands behind with gun and caption 'I'll send somebody out to the car in 20 minutes.' (r)

As egg prices continue to rise, and consumers get desperate, one corner of TikTok has been addressing the issue.

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The hashtag egg hustle has more than 2 million views, and a majority of the top videos under it are from people who appear to own their own chicken coops or backyard farms. One TikToker is shown weighing out eggs on a scale and packaging them in a Pringles can.

The tag #eggprices has more than 50 million views, and many of the videos under that tag feature people boasting about their backyard bounty or attempting to covertly entice customers.

One viral TikTok from @blackmommee84, which clocked in at more than 1.8 million views, shows how creative promo can help. Has this kind of content actually led to a demand for more fresh eggs? Or possibly convinced others to start their own coops? We reached out to @blackmommee84 for comment via email.

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Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’” is also getting some extended play.

@krallen14 #eggdealer #egginflation #eggprices #chickensoftiktok ♬ Hustlin’ – Rick Ross

A lot of these TikToks are humorous but egg-flation is a widespread issue and has been for months. The price of eggs has more than doubled in most markets, thanks to a record number of avian flu cases in 2022. That’s created a secondary market: According to a Jan. 17 tweet from the San Diego director of field operations for the California Border Patrol, there’s been an “increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry.”

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