2.8 Million Chickens Killed as Bird Flu Hits Jackson County Farm

Source: WISH-TV

JACKSON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — 2.8 million egg laying hens had to be killed because of a bird flu outbreak in Jackson County.

It’s the largest outbreak since the state first started seeing cases of this specific bird flu strain back in 2022.

State officials would not tell I-Team 8 which farm in Jackson County was infected, because there are privacy laws that protect veterinary records.

Denise Derrer Spears with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health put into context just how significant the 2.8 million bird outbreak is, “That’s a lot to have detection at one time.”

Right now, this outbreak does not impact your safety.

“The food supply is safe because eggs and poultry meat from affected flocks don’t go into the food supply. Poultry is tested before anything ships to go to market anyways,” Spears said.

The state is continually testing at farms close to the outbreak to check that it didn’t spread to their birds and the eggs they produce.

“That is happening a lot, because chickens lay eggs every day, so there’s truck loads of eggs that are moving every day, so the testing has to happen every day,” Spears said.

The source of bird flu is coming from migrating birds like ducks and geese.

“Particularly late winter, early spring. We’ll see it in the late summer or early fall migration. Those are the highest risk times when that virus is on the move,” Spears said.

This outbreak is just one of several across the country. The American Egg Board said the industry has lost 40 million egg laying hens this past year. People are still buying a lot of eggs which drives up their price at the grocery store.

“These two forces combined—tight supply and high demand—are directly causing the spike in wholesale prices we’ve seen recently,” President and CEO of the American Egg Board Emily Metz said.

According to stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost for a dozen eggs is $4.15. This time last year it was $2.51.