Chicken Grit, Oyster Shell and Covid 19

Why on earth is it so hard to find oyster shell and chicken grit suddenly? What possible connection do those things have with each other, and why is there a shortage now? Supply chain issues are even more complex now that we are dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic. One of our favorite suppliers did some detective work and figured it out: 

Oyster grit got spendy during the pandemic. But why? Pretty paths and other home improvement projects are to blame.

People are staying home due to the pandemic. They are bored. They want to do something to have some control over some part of their lives and to make their lockdown more interesting and fun. They want home improvement projects, so they fix up their houses and yards. They go to the garden supply store and buy bags of pretty rocks and landscaping materials, like crushed granite and quartz, marble bits… and crushed oyster shell for walkways and paths.

What is the public willing to pay more for – pretty rocks, or gravel to go into a chicken’s gizzard? Guess which product is more profitable for the companies producing these products – chicken grit or landscaping materials?

Bingo. The production schedule of the rock and shell crushing and packaging facilities switches over to the manufacture of landscape materials. Pretty yards are worth more than chicken grit. Thanks to Kayla for figuring it out. Now we know. We still don’t like it, but we understand it better.