Maybe you can find a dozen eggs and maybe you can’t. Since H5N1 avian influenza hit wild migratory birds in September 2024 and jumped to domestic fowl, entire flocks have had to be destroyed. Bird flu infections in December 2024 and January 2025 were three times higher than last year. The monthly average price of a dozen large grade A eggs reached a 45-year high in January.

Grocery stores are scrambling by limiting the number of cartons per customer and raising the cost with prices reported as high as $10 and up per dozen locally. The national average is now $4.95 per dozen with the Department of Agriculture predicting an additional 20 percent increase this coming year. 

And some shelves are just plain empty. 

Restaurants are also adjusting their menus to put a surcharge on egg dishes or to substitute plant-based products. The Department of Agriculture predicts that the egg market could continue to feel the effect of the highly infectious virus for months to come.