Why Are Eggs So Expensive but Chicken Meat Isn’t?
If you've noticed egg prices skyrocketing while chicken meat prices remain relatively stable, you're not alone. In the United States, this price difference comes down to how the poultry industry operates, how birds are raised, and the impact of a major disease outbreak.
The Impact of Bird Flu on Egg Prices
Since 2022, the U.S. has been battling a highly contagious bird flu known as H5N1. Millions of birds have been culled to stop the disease from spreading, especially in states like Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana. The result? A massive shortage of egg-laying hens, leading to record-high egg prices.
As of February 2025, the national average price for eggs hit $8.07 per dozen, with some areas seeing nearly $10 per dozen. In contrast, the average retail price of boneless, skinless chicken breast remained around $2.99–$3.09 per pound.
Why Chicken Meat Prices Haven’t Spiked
The main reason chicken meat hasn’t experienced the same price surge is the difference in how broiler chickens (raised for meat) and layer hens (raised for eggs) are farmed:
Scale of Production: There are far more broiler chickens than layer hens. In January 2025 alone, nearly 796 million broiler chickens were processed, compared to about 291 million layer hens in the entire country.
Farm Structure: Egg farms tend to have millions of birds in one location, meaning a single outbreak can wipe out a significant portion of the supply. Broiler farms, on the other hand, usually house about 200,000 birds per site, making disease outbreaks less catastrophic overall.
Growth Time: A broiler chicken reaches market weight in about six weeks, so lost flocks can be quickly replaced. In contrast, it takes four to six months for a young layer hen to start producing eggs, making recovery much slower.
The Role of Market Elasticity
Another key factor is market elasticity, which measures how quickly supply can adjust to demand changes.
Broiler chickens are more elastic: If a farm loses birds, the industry can replace them quickly, preventing major price spikes.
Egg-laying hens are inelastic: Because it takes months to replace lost hens, the egg supply struggles to recover. That’s why prices keep climbing.
Will Egg Prices Come Down?
The USDA is taking steps to address the crisis, including investing $1 billion in biosecurity and considering vaccines to prevent further losses. However, since eggs have no real substitutes in many diets and recipes, demand is unlikely to drop significantly. This means prices could remain high for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, chicken meat prices should stay stable thanks to the industry’s ability to recover quickly from supply losses.
Bottom Line
In the U.S., the rising cost of eggs is largely due to the slow recovery of layer hen populations after bird flu outbreaks. Meanwhile, broiler chickens grow faster and are produced at a much larger scale, keeping chicken meat prices steady. Until egg farms fully recover, shoppers can expect to keep paying more for their morning omelet.
Source: https://www.ntd.com/why-arent-chicken-meat-prices-rising-like-egg-prices_1050503.html