BATON ROUGE - While egg prices are finally dropping, it's still not a bad idea to raise your own chickens.

Dek Terrell, an economics professor at LSU, says it's basic egg-onomics.

"The bird flu has affected about 58 million chickens that were laying eggs, so that's reduced the supply of eggs," Terrell said.

Low supply means increased demand, which means higher prices.

"What we saw in 2022 is that the overall price of eggs went up by over 60 percent, so that's a really large increase," Terrell explained.

That increase is costing you more than $5 for a dozen, when they used to go for just $2.

The good news is that prices are started to come down, and Terrell says the January data confirms that. However, if you've been thinking about getting your own chickens, it may prove to be a good idea in the long run.

Poultry expert Gerry Romero says owning your own hens is relatively cheap and has several benefits.

"You gonna have fresh eggs, you gonna have pest control, you gonna have fresh compost and you gonna have stress relief because you can use it as a hobby," Romero said.

That pest control could save you money, as well.

"If you have mosquitos, they get rid of mosquitos. If you have spiders, some of them get rid of the spiders. Even the snake, they chase the snakes," Romero said.

But there is one caveat if you live within the Baton Rouge city limits: the law says you're only allowed to have three hens and no roosters, which Romero says will likely only net you about three eggs a week.