Egg prices are expected to soar as the avian flu (H5N1) continues to infect large commercial flocks across the nation and new cage-free laws go into effect in Colorado. The average national price of eggs in December 2024 was $4.15, a 65% increase from December 2023 when the price was $2.51. The prices are expected to increase even more.
The deaths of millions of chickens across the nation due to bird flu has decreased the number of eggs produced and therefore increased the price of available eggs. The USDA states that the current avian flu outbreak began nearly three years ago in February, 2022. Since the beginning of the outbreak, Colorado has had 9.7 million affected chickens as part of 12 commercial operations and 30 backyard flocks. Across the country, 136.3 million chickens have been affected as part of 643 commercial farms and 777 backyard flocks. The last quarter of 2024 saw the death of 20 million chickens from the avian flu and mass culling operations.
Weld County had two egg farms affected by the bird flu last summer, which resulted in the mass slaughter of millions of chickens in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. About 1.8 million chickens were culled from one of the Weld County farms in July 2024, which is the second largest mass-culling since the bird flu was first detected in Colorado, in 2002. The largest mass-culling in the state happened in 2022, when the current bird flu outbreak first began, and a Weld County commercial farm culled 1.9 million chickens.
Additionally, Colorado and Michigan both began implementing cage-free regulations in 2025 becoming the ninth and tenth states to ban the sale of eggs that come from caged facilities. These new regulations impact the prices of eggs nationwide.
All eggs sold in Colorado are required to be cage-free as of January 1 of this year. The law, which is part of a bill (HB20-1343) passed in 2020, requires all operations with 3,000 or more chickens to have cage-free chickens with at least one square foot of space per bird. Since the law took effect weeks ago, members of the public have recently speculated that this new regulation is the cause of increased egg prices. However, HB20-1343 was passed in 2020 and was implemented in phases, meaning that all commercial egg operations in Colorado have been already complying with the new standards.
The cage-free regulation might still be affecting egg prices, though, as Colorado still relies on imported eggs from other states. Out-of-state suppliers could have continued to provide Colorado with cheaper eggs from commercial flocks until the regulation took effect three weeks ago. There is no specific data regarding the percentage of eggs sold in Colorado that come from out-of-state suppliers.
Small farmers who pasture-raise chickens say the new cage-free law helps to level the playing field. Local farms with less than 3,000 chickens are not impacted by the law, but many of them already provide their chickens with ample space, which always comes with a higher cost on the end product. Now that commercial farms are being held to a higher standard, it makes the small producers more competitive.
