Nearly 1 million chickens culled at one Minnesota egg producer due to bird flu

Nearly 1 million chickens have been culled at a Minnesota egg operation, by far the largest death toll at a single Minnesota poultry farm during the current bird flu outbreak that started last year.

The farm, located in Wright County, had 940,000 egg-laying chickens when the virus was detected earlier this month. Disease management protocol requires all birds at an operation where the virus is detected be culled to lessen the spread.

In Minnesota about 5.5 million birds, mostly turkeys, have been killed by the virus or culled to prevent its spread in the state since early 2022, according to the state Board of Animal Health.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is typically spread by wild migrating birds. After a quiet spring with no reported cases at commercial poultry farms in Minnesota, the autumn migration has brought a new wave of outbreaks.

"This fall wave of HPAI shows the persistence of this virus to continue impacting poultry in our state," Dr. Brian Hoefs, state veterinarian, said in a statement. "The best way to stop this outbreak is through equally persistent biosecurity."

More than 350,000 turkeys have been killed in the past month across five counties in Minnesota, the nation's leading turkey producer. The outbreaks are not expected to impact Thanksgiving turkey availability or prices, which have been trending below average.

Bird flu is not a risk to food safety, officials say. It played a large role in limiting the supply of eggs last winter, however, driving prices to record highs.

In Iowa, which produces more eggs than any other state, 16 million birds — mostly egg-laying chickens at large operations — have been killed in the bird flu outbreak. That's more than a quarter of the 61 million birds killed nationwide throughout the entire outbreak.

So far this year Iowa has not seen a resurgence of cases at egg producers. Egg prices peaked at nearly $5 a carton in January and have for months hovered around $2 per dozen, according to federal data.

Minnesota health officials urge the public to avoid touching sick or dead animals found in the wild. Report dead birds in the wild and any irregularities in backyard poultry flocks and commercial operations to the state Avian Influenza Hotline at 833-454-0156.