Amid soaring egg prices, Wisconsin chicken ownership 'real trendy'

High egg prices are having an impact beyond the grocery store. Some are taking matters into their own hands.

BEAVER DAM, Wis. - High egg prices are having an impact beyond the grocery store. Some are taking matters into their own hands.

"It’s a real trendy thing to do right now, for sure," said Nick Levendoski, Sunnyside Hatchery owner.

At Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam, the eggs and the chickens come first. Levendoski said if you take the high egg prices, in general, this time of year with an outbreak of the avian flu, "it becomes a perfect recipe where egg supply is down from where it usually is, and demand is as strong as ever."

That has some hatching a new idea.

"We’re coming into a really busy time of year, and right now, we’re just kind of like, setting the table," said Levendoski.

That table is looking a little more crowded as more look into raising chickens of their own.

"We have more staff in here for more hours every day because there’s just definitely an increase in the interest," said Levendoski.

(Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

The hatchery offers retail sales of chicks for five months a year, starting in March.

"People are worried about the possibility of the long term, the egg prices being a long-term issue and just locking into their birds, whether they’re wanting them in March or later in the summer," said Levendoski.

For people interested in taking a crack at it, Levendoski suggests doing your research and getting prepared to care for the animals.

(Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

"This is a lot of people who haven’t had chickens before," said Levendoski. "Even though it’s a little more expensive with the price of chicks and price of feed than it was a couple years ago, I still think it’s a pretty affordable venture."

We’re still far from answering the age-old philosophical question, but when it comes to some people’s interest in chickens, it’s high egg prices that came first.

"It’s a good time for that with the egg prices and being sustainable, personally, for your egg supply," said Levendoski.

(Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Levendoski said a big unknown factor with egg prices is whether we’ll see more avian influenza in the spring.

According to the city website, you can keep chickens in Milwaukee – up to four with a permit.