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Egg prices are already high and could be getting worse.
The average price of a dozen Grade A. large eggs was $4.15 during the month of December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from $2.51 in December 2023.
Two things are driving price increases: the bird flu outbreak and state laws on free-range eggs.
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Patrick Penfield, a professor and supply chain expert at the Syracuse University School of Management, told Nexstar Media that egg prices could rise as much as 20% before the end of the year.
This means that the average price of a dozen large eggs It could be almost $5 by the end of 2025, which would be the highest average price ever recorded for a dozen eggs.
Egg prices are expected to rise in the coming months due to the bird flu epidemic. (iStock)
The previous high egg price was in January 2023, when the average price of a dozen large eggs was $4.82. However, by August 2023, the average price had dropped to $2.04.
Penfield predicted egg prices could surpass that record as early as February.
The current bird flu outbreakAvian influenza, technically known as “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI), has caused a record number of deaths in laying hens, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a recent report.
In the last quarter of 2024, more than 20 million laying hens died.
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“Unlike previous years, in 2024, all major production systems experienced significant losses, including conventional caged, cage-free, and certified organic types,” the USDA said.
Once bird flu is detected, a farm must cull all the birds in the flock. This has had a devastating impact on the egg industry, as it takes approximately five months for a hen to mature.
Chickens begin laying eggs at around five months of age. (Reuters/Mike Blake)
“Once a hen is five months old, she can lay about one egg a day,” Penfield said.
There are currently no vaccines or medical treatments against bird flu, he said. The only defense is “biosecurity practices”: keeping chickens safe from wild birds and away from humans, keeping enclosures covered, and “reducing large puddles and standing water.”
Penfield hopes chickens will develop “some kind of natural immunity” against the outbreak, but warned Nexstar that this could take years.
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“We haven’t seen it yet and it will be many years before it happens,” Penfield told Nexstar. “Also, if they do, we don’t know if this immunity would protect chickens if the bird flu virus were to mutate.”
Aside from bird flu, several states have laws requiring that all eggs sold be “cage-free,” meaning that the birds are not raised in cages. They tend to be more expensive than conventional eggs, even in the absence of a bird flu outbreak.
An entire flock must be culled if a chicken tests positive for bird flu. (iStock)
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While egg expert Lisa Steele told Fox News Digital that pasture-raised chickens produce the “gold standard” of eggs, these birds are at higher risk of getting sick.
“Poultry birds contract HPAI from infected waterfowl (ducks and geese) and gulls, which may frequent farm wetlands. Therefore, birds raised outdoors or with access to the outdoors are at higher risk of contracting HPAI. HPAI,” the University of Minnesota’s avian influenza website said.
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“Infected poultry can transmit diseases to new flocks through contact with birds, people, manure and equipment. HPAI viruses can exist in poultry waste for several months, especially under conditions of high humidity and low temperature” said the University of Minnesota.
