While Colorado’s cage-free law may be worsening the shortage, other more prominent factors caused it.
Some eastern state hatcheries, where many of Colorado’s birds are sourced, flooded in the spring, according to cage-free chicken farmer Cyrus Koehn, who noted that the shortage is helping his business some.
Additionally, a bird flu outbreak in July resulted in the culling of almost 1.8 million chickens in Weld County in July and tens of millions more nationwide.
A hot summer and warmer-than-average fall further hampered chicken productivity, as heat stress causes hens to lay fewer eggs.
Bill Scebbi, executive director of Colorado Egg Producers, which represents five large commercial egg farms in Colorado, stated the law is “absolutely not” to blame, pointing instead to the avian flu.
The law, originally passed in 2020, will take full effect Jan. 1.
See full source list below.
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