An egg farmer recently described the “nightmare” his egg production company experienced after losing three major flocks of chickens to the deadly bird flu outbreak. The farmer’s story comes as egg prices continue to increase across the United States amid the bird flu outbreak.
According to Fox Business, outbreaks of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, have resulted in entire flocks of chickens being killed to prevent the continued spread of the virus. Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch CEO Greg Herbruck, a third-generation farmer, recently told Fox Business that his company was forced to cull entire flocks of chickens at three farms in Michigan due to the bird flu outbreak, which started in 2022.
Herbruck told Fox Business that his company’s chickens contracted the bird flu virus just before Easter of 2024.
“It’s just like somebody takes a baseball bat to your gut,” Herbruck said. “I’m just an egg farmer out here trying to say, ‘Hey, please, we need some help to fight this battle.’”
Herbruck told Fox Business that he went multiple weeks without sleep, and another company executive started crying in his office by the time the company’s third farm was devastated by the bird flu outbreak.
“It was just awful… just the nightmare of that many dead chickens,” the CEO said.
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Fox Business reported that egg production farms are typically told to eradicate their flocks if their chickens contract the bird flu. The eradication of entire flocks of chickens has caused egg prices to skyrocket as the supply has significantly dropped.
Herbruck told Fox News that the process of rebuilding a flock can take multiple months, while the return to full production at an egg production farm can take up to two years. The farmer explained that while his company reintroduced chickens to its locations last June, the company is still only operating at 70% of its previous capacity.
As the bird flu virus has continued to spread, concerns have increased regarding the potential for humans to contract the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month that there have been 67 human cases of the bird flu in the United States since 2022.
Herbruck told Fox News that he is concerned if the disease is confirmed to be airborne. “It’s not even possible to filter out that virus or to disinfect the air,” Herbruck said. “These barns that may have 150,000 birds, we typically change the air every 30 to 40 seconds… so the idea that we might be able to somehow disinfect that air is not even reasonable.”
Herbruck told Fox News that he believes a bird flu vaccine is “something that can help us” as the virus continues to spread.
