Bird flu cases impacting egg prices this holiday season

At a time when many bake cakes and cookies for winter holidays, U.S. egg prices are rising as an intensifying bird flu outbreak has killed millions of the nation’s laying hens. Rising cases of bird flu have caused shortages and food insecurities in shoppers.

According to the FDA, 5% of all egg-laying hens have been killed within the past three months.

The average retail price of a dozen eggs has exceeded $3.60 in November, up from $2.50 at the start of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but shoppers are seeing higher prices in the valley.

But it's not only consumers feeling the impact, local vendors are too.

“Well it’s a concern for me because obviously we have chickens. We have about 400 chickens. There's a bit more demand. That’s where we’ve seen the difference. We’re trying not to raise those prices.”

Lydia Jaime, Black Sheep Farms owner

While the future of the bird flu outbreak is unclear, economists are expecting egg prices to go down sometime in the first quarter of 2025.

Until then, consumer advocates recommend shopping around for the best price.

Stay with News Channel 3 for more.