Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza had an impact on chicken egg production in 2022.
The USDA says the number of table and hatching egg layers last year averaged 379.304 million head, 3% less than 2021, with the largest decline in Iowa, the top chicken egg laying state, partially due to depopulation caused by HPAI.
The total U.S. chicken inventory, excluding commercial broilers, was 513 million head, 2% under the year before.
As the number of layers and chickens fell, U.S.
