STATEWIDE — Avian flu knocked out a good portion of Indiana’s egg-producing birds in 2022.
Overall, the hen population throughout the whole United States is down 6-percent. Over 270,000 birds had to be destroyed in Indiana because of the outbreak.
At the moment a regular purchase of a dozen eggs will run you about $4.19 is some places, but depending on the brand of eggs you get you could be paying more to $7.00.
“Indiana is second in the nation in egg production, so we do produce a lot of eggs right here in Indiana, we’re pretty close to our supply; however, we distribute eggs across the country and across the world,” said Rebecca Joniskan, president of the Indiana Poultry Association, on WISH-TV.
With the demand for eggs high, some farmers in Indiana are having a hard time keeping up with that demand, which is why the price of eggs is higher than usual still. Joniskan said farmers need time to recoup their flocks.
“From chick to productive egg-laying hen is about 24 to 30 weeks, so when you have a disruption as we’ve seen with avian influenza, it takes us a long time to get those birds back into production,” Joniskan said.
The pinch on eggs is also affecting the prices of egg-based products like mayonnaise and cookie batter.
