Egg farmer barely hit the bird's flu and resulted in 3 missing herds

Egg price is still on the rise and has reached a level since it is not seen Inflation reached the upper From 9 % in 2022, it encountered consumer wallets as well as US farmers.

Prevalence A highly pathogenic poultry fluWith Or the bird flu is primarily to blame. Total commercial herds, consisting of more than 1,000 chickens, have been destroyed by the virus.

Wolf Herberok, a third -generation farmer and managing director of the Michigan Herbruk Egg Production Company, told Fox Business that the virus has been destroyed in all three fields of the company, about five miles of each other and forces him To get rid of themselves. Supply

The industry has been fighting the bird flu since its outbreak in 2022. For Herberok, it was the day before Easter 2024 that the chickens of the company contract with the bird's flu – when he clearly remembered.

Experts say egg prices will not fall soon

“This is exactly as if someone returns the ball into your gut,” said Herberok, who wants the authorities to use the vaccine that farmers can use to protect their herds. “I just one Egg farms Here's the try to say, “Hi, please, we need help to fight this battle.”

Herberok said he went to sleep for weeks and until the third farm was infected, one of the company's executives was crying in his office.

“It was just awful … just the nightmare of those dead chickens,” he said.

This is the fourth year that the virus has paralyzed the farmers, with the outbreak in early 2025. In the US food system.

With the rise in prices along with bird flu cases, US egg production decreases

The process of rebuilding this is not easy, as it takes several months to reach a point where a farm can restore large egg production again.

After discharging from the Ministry of Agriculture, Herberok said it would take about five months for a chick to reach maturity and start a good number of large eggs.

To accelerate the process, they buy mature chickens to start eggs as they raise young chickens. This can take up to two years for a farm to return to full production. In June 2024, Herberok said the company began to return the birds to its farms, but still operates with only 70 % of the capacity before breaking them.

At the same time, his workers have taken extra precautions. For example, they are transferred to a remote area that can change the clothes. Some workers are required to change twice to minimize the risk of pollution.

Bird's flu vaccine: what to know

Herberok has expressed increasing concerns because the virus has now shown that it contaminates mammals. In March 2024, the virus was first diagnosed in cows, and has since infected 968 dairy herds in 16 states, according to disease control and prevention centers.

Last month, the agency confirmed 66 bird flu in the United States since 2024, including a mortality.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, humans can conclude the bird's flu with the fluids of an infected animal by contacting the fluids of a contaminated animal. Infection can also occur by inhaling small dust particles from animal habitats or by touching body fluids and then entering the eye, nose or mouth.

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However, if the disease is in the air, which has not yet been determined, Herbook is more concerned.

“Can't even filter the virus or disinfect air. These warehouses that may have 150,000 birds, we typically change the air every 30 to 40 seconds … so the idea that might be possible We can make a disinfectant that is not the air. He said, “Even logical.

In addition to the farms protocols, Herberok said the tool that is still lost is the vaccine. “This is something that can help us,” he said.