Overland Park restaurant raising chickens as high egg costs lead them to charge market rates

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) - On Tuesday, The Wooden Spoon shared how it is tackling the high egg prices while U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids shared how she is trying to help farmers and lower the cost for shoppers.

Open for 14 years, the Wooden Spoon is no stranger to high egg prices.

“It just got to the point where this year I think was the worst we had ever seen it,” said The Wooden Spoon owner Tina Yake.

Due to the constant up and down in prices, they had no choice but to add a change to their menu. It says ‘Due to ongoing fluctuations in egg prices, all egg-based dishes will be priced according to current market rates until stability is reached. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.’

“You go to a steakhouse you pay market price, why not the eggs?” said Yake.

She said it beats having to reprint her menu and she hasn’t gotten any complaints from customers.

However, that isn’t their only change. They are now working with Flyer Farms to raise chickens. They just got started and need quite a few chicks to start their flock.

“Cause just for our two locations I need a minimum of 350 chickens to lay what we need,” said Yake.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids met with Yake to hear about her experience with these high costs and share what they are working on to make a change over in Congress.

“The options are eat that cost or it on to your customers,” said Davids.

Rep. Davids is working on the Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification (HPAI) Act to ensure recovery for farmers from the avian flu. She hopes this will also help lower egg prices.

KCTV5 reached out to Senator Jerry Moran for comment on this bill but did not hear back as of Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Davids also wants USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to address the bird flu by investing in research, retaining, and rehiring federal employees who help with tackling the disease.

KCTV5 spoke with grocery shoppers about what they want to see from the government with these high prices.

“I think sometimes we have a large amount of federal overreach in some of those areas and when you take the farmers and the ranchers out of the equation and you don’t listen to the experiences that they have then sometimes that is what you end up with,” said Prairie Village resident, Mary Lou Fritts. “I think we need to do a better job working with farmers to understand all of those implications of culling the flocks even of extremely healthy birds.”

Fritts said she purchases a farmer’s coop eggs at her local grocery store to help save her money on eggs.

Yake recommends everyone their local farmers during this time as they can help keep egg costs lower.

Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.