Experts watch bird flu – H5N1 – with hands over eyes
Egg prices are high and it may be months before they drop due to the spread of avian flu across species. The Superlo Foods eggs section on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Egg prices are high now, and it likely will be months before they drop as the globe watches an unprecedented spread of avian flu across species.
Tom Tabler, the University of Tennessee’s statewide poultry expert, expects egg prices will rise at least through early 2026 as chicken producers rebuild flocks that have been killed to stop the spread of highly pathologic avian influenza.
“We can replace those lost hens, but we can’t do it overnight. It takes three weeks for a hen egg to hatch into a baby chick, and then it takes another 22 weeks to grow that chick up to an adult that begins to lay eggs,” he said.
“It’s going to take at least six months, at a minimum, to replace those birds,” Tabler said.
In the three years since the latest avian flu strain, H5N1, was detected in the United States, 456,000 domesticated birds have been killed in Tennessee — a total of 13 flocks including eight backyard operations.
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Tom Tabler University of Tennessee St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital cows poultry Subscriber Only Richard WebbyAre you enjoying your subscription?
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Jane Roberts
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
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