CALIFORNIA, USA — The California Poultry Federation is calling 2024 the biggest year of bird flu in California. For a second year in a row, it’s creating egg shortages and unstable prices at the store.
Bird flu has deeply impacted farmers in both Sonoma County and the Bay Area, and in return, it has created shortages on store shelves.
“We’ve lost over three million layer chickens, lots of ducks and a million chickens for meat already,” said Bill Mattos, president of California Poultry Federation.
He said losses in the Central Valley and in places like San Joaquin County have hit a million and are closing in on a million and a half egg laying chickens wiped out in under six weeks.
“We’ve lost significant numbers of chickens for eggs in the Central Valley, but I think the Sacramento area should be OK in the next few months once the market kind of takes care of itself,” said Mattos.
The Central Valley was the hardest hit due to ducks carrying bird flu.
When farmers have outbreaks the United States, the Department of Agriculture helps with quarantine and cost. However, it’s still concerning for poultry farmers like Ken Mitchell, because it doesn’t make them whole.
“The biggest thing is the down time. You could be out four to six months. If you don’t have birds, you aren’t making money,” said Mitchell.
The California Poultry Federation expects an increase in prices over the next month, but they should go down if bird flu is under control.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Northern California bird flu has also been found in a bobcat, two fisheries, two mountain lions and a raccoon.
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