Highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed Oct. 28, 2026, in a commercial flock of 1.3 million laying hens in Stanislaus County, California, the first commercial poultry detection in the state this fall, WATTPoultry reported citing USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. It is the second large U.S. layer outbreak in under three weeks, after 934,600 hens were confirmed infected in Clinton County, Illinois.
Developing Story Note: This report covers new developments involving bird flu in U.S. egg-laying flocks and egg prices. Information may change as regulators and market reporters release additional findings. Flock data reflect APHIS confirmations through Oct. 28, 2026; price data are from USDA’s Egg Markets Overview dated Oct. 23, 2026.
For most of the country, the combined loss is small — the California case matters more at home, because state law requires that eggs sold in California come from cage-free hens, and the state already pays the highest wholesale egg prices in USDA’s weekly report. Whether that premium widens is the price question to watch.
California’s Cage-Free Market Feels It First
Since Jan. 1, 2022, California’s Proposition 12 has required egg-laying hens to be housed cage-free for shell eggs and liquid eggs sold in the state, whether those hens live in California or elsewhere. That creates a separate supply pool. Eggs from conventional cage operations in Iowa or Ohio cannot simply be shipped in to fill a gap…