Cost of eggs has skyrocketed in Conn. and worldwide

The price of eggs has skyrocketed recently in Connecticut and around the world. However, it is expected to decrease some in the coming weeks.

A global avian influenza outbreak has been identified as the primary cause of the hike in egg prices, along with increased holiday demand. But with the holidays over and no major bird flu outbreaks recently, experts say a dozen eggs should be getting cheaper.

“It’s been quiet so far the last few weeks, but up till the last few weeks, there’s been outbreaks,” said Hershal Tyles, general manager at Mitlitsky Eggs in Lebanon. “Some of the larger scale farms like 1.3, 3.5 million birds have been affected.”

Connecticut has had a few small avian flu outbreaks. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two backyard flocks, a total of 210 birds, were affected in 2022.

In March, the state said a backyard flock of chickens in New London County had been infected with bird flu. Then in October, a backyard flock in New Haven County was infected.

“Detections in backyard and commercial flocks are increasing around the U.S. and Canada,” State Veterinarian Dr. Jane Lewis said then. “This comes as wild birds begin their annual migration south. It is imperative that anyone involved with poultry production review their biosecurity activities to assure the health of their birds.”

Avian influenza can infect any bird, and the pathogen tends to follow migration patterns, making containment difficult.

“Continued adherence to stringent protocols will ensure the safety and viability of Connecticut’s diverse poultry industry,” said Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt. “Our state ranks first in New England for egg production, and this serves as a reminder that we must all work together to protect our birds.”

The state has a few commercial flocks of chickens. Though none have been affected, avian influenza is a global problem.

When you have a farm with millions of chickens and one chicken gets the bird flu — which Tyles said is “almost like COVID for chickens; they get a terrible respiratory illness, and it basically chokes him to death” — you have to euthanize the entire flock.

That means you have to wait until the chicks are ready to lay eggs, which can take months. Because avian influenza is a global problem, the industry can see many millions of chickens infected at once.

“This is what causes the price of eggs to rise. You take a complex with 3 million birds that you have to depopulate. By the time your next flock is ready to lay eggs, it’s about 20 weeks old. By the time they lay eggs steadily, you’re looking at six months,” Tyles said. “All of a sudden, you’ve got 15, 20 million birds that have been put out, and then it takes six months to replace production, and then you create holiday demand and overall demand.”

The wholesale cost of eggs is set weekly; as of Dec.31, it was at around $5.23 per dozen. The cost of a dozen eggs at the supermarket might be significantly higher.

“That’s wholesale, loose,” Tyles said. “That doesn’t count paper, transportation, stuff like that.”

The cost of eggs has gone up so high that the price difference between regular eggs, called “commodity eggs,” and what are referred to as “specialty eggs,” like organic and free range, has gotten considerably smaller.

“Now that commodity eggs have surpassed the price of the specialty eggs, the specialty market had to get higher because of demand and shortages on their products,” Tyles said. “They have to catch up with the commodity market, and now there’s little difference between commodity and specialty eggs.”

Doug Wade of Wade’s Dairy in Bridgeport sells wholesale eggs, among other products, to schools and other institutions. He said he’s seen the wholesale price of eggs increase as much as 900 percent in only a few years.

“I’ve seen eggs coming into Wade’s Dairy in the past five years, under 50 cents a dozen,” he said. “Now they’re over $5. That’s my cost. I think we’ve seen it as high as $5.30.”

Avian flu has declined somewhat, and experts expect the wholesale price of eggs to dip in the coming weeks.

“It’s going to taper back this week and possibly next week and, if there’s no further outbreaks, then it’s going to take a bigger adjustment — as long as there’s no further outbreaks of the bird flu,” Tyles said.

Demand is lower with the end of the holidays and though Tyles believes costs won’t get as low as they were in recent years, $2 per dozen wholesale, he said, “There is some light at the end of the tunnel.”

“I think the market’s going to settle around $3. You’re going to see a higher retail overall in the supermarket, I think, until the second quarter of ‘23, and then by that point, all the birds should be back in production,” Tyles said. “And if there’s no further outbreaks, we should see eggs correcting to a more comfortable level for consumers.”

The price of eggs has also increased due to overall cost increases for farmers. While larger egg operations can absorb those costs or pass them on to consumers, smaller farmers find it hard to maintain.

“We were selling them for $5 a dozen and then we raised it, because the price of feed went up so much, to $8 a dozen,” said Frank Johnson, who runs a small chicken operation in Fairfield. “Then we actually started thinning out the flock. They’re not laying as much either. It just was getting harder and harder. We were constantly sold out. It became where we were actually losing money.”

Johnson only ever kept 60 chickens at most. Each chicken can lay about one egg a day, though not every chicken lays an egg every day. His chickens eat well on kale and corn, among other foods.

His is not a commercial enterprise. He has a farmstand and sells at farmers’ markets. Though the price of eggs has gone up worldwide, Johnson tried to keep the cost down for the consumer.

But even with the price of feed going up so much, he felt he “can’t really justify” charging so much for a dozen eggs — local, farm-raised and free-range though they may be. “I go to the grocery store as well and see the price of eggs. It’s crazy,” he said. “But to get people to buy them then start raising my prices becomes harder and harder,”

Though he still has a few “steady customers,” Johnson said they’re closing up the egg operation.

“The only thing we sold was eggs, and we’re winding it down,” he said.

Raising chickens and selling eggs is “a lot of work,” Johnson said. He’s getting close to retirement age, and once everything is wrapped up at home in Fairfield, he’s planning to retire to Mexico.

“It’s nice,” he said. “Very warm down there, and property taxes are very low.”