BELTON, Texas (KXXV) — Baby chicks are now in high demand as egg prices continue to rise.
“It’s been pretty hectic lately. Everybody seems to want chicks and they want special breeds. They always want good layers so we’re pretty booked up. Every week people are calling in their orders and we don’t have any extra to sell," said Michelle Dalsing, the lead clerk at Belton Feed Country Supply Store.
She said baby chicks are a seasonal thing that they get in and right now the store gets two shipments per week, with at least 200-300 chicks in each shipment.
She believes the higher price of eggs is causing these gals to be in higher demand.
Watch Bobby find out more about the demand:
“Everybody always likes baby chicks but I think with the times right now, the price of eggs, everybody just figures they’re just gonna grow their own" she said.
With this in mind, earlier this month the City of Belton put out a courtesy post on Facebook to remind neighbors of the rules and regulations about having chicken coops in their backyard.
Here are the reminders that were posted:
- Chicken coops are permissible if located 200 feet from a neighbor's house.
- Exceptions may be granted by permit through the city manager's office.
- Exception request must be writing.
- City manager or designee may approve exceptions (25-foot minimum distance for exception).
- Permit exceptions are investigated by animal control officer, who verifies that adjacent property owners have no objections, enclosure is clean and secure, no foul odors, waste disposal plan is sufficient, and number of fowl is reasonable for size of enclosure/lot.
- No roosters.
- Permit is revocable. Requires 90-day notice. Lesser notice is permissible if necessary to protect health, safety or public property.
A city public relations official told us that this reminder was just a courtesy and that they are not aware of anyone coming forward to the city looking to build a chicken coop.
In their post they said, "given the price of eggs, people may be considering a chicken coop in the backyard."
Michelle said they haven’t seen a big demand for fencing and materials for coops, saying “not so much for the older ones, people are usually pretty set up for that but for starting out the babies, we definitely sell a lot more of that.”
Michelle recommends that if you do get baby chicks be aware of local laws and regulations.
