Bird Flu wipes out millions of laying chicken across the US
Highly pathogenic avian influenza hits commercial poultry flocks in multiple states.
USA – A second commercial flock of laying hens in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was confirmed infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), affecting 722,100 birds on February 3, 2026.
This outbreak follows a previous Lancaster County flock of 1,509,700 hens that tested positive for HPAI on January 28, marking the only two confirmed cases in Pennsylvania commercial poultry so far this year.
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) records show that combined losses in Pennsylvania, along with flocks in Colorado and Kansas, have brought the total number of birds affected in the US to nearly 4 million in 2026.
In Weld County, Colorado, approximately 1.5 million laying hens were culled due to the virus, while Pottawatomie County, Kansas, reported 380,000 table egg layer pullets affected by HPAI.
A commercial flock of 144,600 laying hens in Butler County, Nebraska, was also confirmed infected on the final day of 2025, adding to the early-year toll on the egg sector.
The 2025 HPAI outbreak, which intensified from October 2024 through early March 2025, led to the depopulation of roughly 50.7 million egg-laying hens nationwide, with Ohio alone losing about 13.5 million birds.
A total of 285 commercial poultry and gamebird flocks across 26 states were affected in 2025, with nearly half of the losses concentrated in Ohio and Indiana.
Egg-laying hens represented 77% of birds culled since 2022, while turkeys and other poultry were also impacted, with over 22 million birds affected by HPAI and avian metapneumovirus in the month preceding February 2025.
Entire flocks were often depopulated within days of detection due to the virus’s high pathogenicity, delaying recovery as replacement pullets require about 18 weeks to reach laying age.
The rapid decline in laying flocks triggered a supply shock in the egg market, with the national laying flock dropping from 311 million in November 2024 to around 306 million by January 2025.
Retail and wholesale egg prices surged, reaching US$6.22 per dozen in some regions and peaking at US$8.20 per dozen at wholesale in February 2025, representing year-on-year increases of up to 60% in affected areas.
Turkey production forecasts for 2025 fell to 4.807 billion pounds, the lowest annual output since 1991, while chicken meat prices remained relatively stable despite ongoing biosecurity concerns across the industry.
Restaurants, including Waffle House, applied surcharges to offset rising poultry input costs, reflecting the broader economic pressures on the supply chain caused by the persistent avian influenza outbreaks.
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