Bird flu wipes out 95% of birds on one of U.S. largest egg farms

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published June 3, 2025 at 11:50 AM EDT

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Eggs are for sale at a grocery store in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, on Sunday, January 19, 2025, as bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

Officials in Arizona have declared an animal disease emergency over the bird flu. The President of Hickman’s Family Farms outside of Phoenix says he’s now lost 95% of his birds to a bird flu outbreak. That’s about six million chickens. Hickman’s is one of the largest egg producers in the U.S.

Here & Now’s Asma Khalid speaks with Glenn Hickman, president and CEO of Hickman’s Family Farms in Arizona.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.