Why is bird flu raising the prices of eggs but not chicken? The simplest answer is that the chickens we eat don’t live as long. The birds that are raised for egg production and the ones raised for consumption are two different types of chickens.

Chicken prices are not suffering the same price hikes because broilers, the variety bred for meat production, are a different kind of chicken. According to The Hill, egg-laying chickens have been harder hit by the avian flu.

In other words: Chicken prices have remained stable because broiler producers have had an easier time keeping up with demand. Egg-laying chickens have fared much worse, accounting for more than 75 percent of all the birds affected by the outbreak between Feb. 8, 2022, and Jan. 29.