This year (because of a law, obviously, not out of any sense of kindness), chickens will get bigger houses. That means the price of eggs is going up. Okay, good.

Think about being a chicken. It would suck. Even in your imaginary vision of chickenhood—roomy coop, grass to walk on, healthy food to eat—it would suck, what with all the clucking and demand for constant egg laying. The reality of modern chickenhood—cramped stalls too small to sit down in, no grass to be seen, a hellish chicken prison existence—is even worse.

Starting January 1, a law takes effect in California mandating more room for chickens. Give those chickens some room! Those chickens want to strut! So chicken farmers are building new chicken houses and passing the cost on to consumers. Egg crisis TK? I think not. The LA Times reports:

Prices for wholesale eggs are expected to rise 10% to 40% next year because of infrastructure upgrades and the reduction of flocks to provide animals more space, according to Dan Sumner, an agricultural economist at UC Davis. Already, the specter of California's regulations are believed to be contributing to record prices for eggs. The average wholesale cost of a dozen large eggs hit a peak of $2 on Thanksgiving Day — doubling in price from the start of November before settling this week to about $1.40.

It's okay if the price of eggs goes up because eggs are cheap as hell. Even if the price of a dozen eggs rises up to, oh my god, three dollars, that means that you can cook a big protein-filled meal for yourself for one dollar.

We do not need to torture chickens in order to push the price of a hearty omelette under one dollar. We're still well within the reasonable breakfast price parameters. Hell, give those chickens apartments. I'd even pay four dollars for a dozen eggs.

[Photo: Flickr]