What is Avian Influenza?
Avian Influenza (AI) is a virus that occurs in birds. Laying hens can contract AI when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. AI cases typically happen in the spring and fall when wild birds migrate.
Keeping The Girls Safe
Our farmers take important measures to protect their hens from Avian Influenza, which may include temporarily housing their flock indoors. These decisions are often mandated by individual states and implemented across our farms, depending on location. In either case, the girls go back outside as soon as it’s safe to do so.
When the girls need to be inside, our farmers continue to
prioritize animal welfare, which includes:
- Carefully managing barn ventilation
- Providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments
- Walking around the barn regularly to check in on the flock
- Giving the girls plenty of perches for roosting
FAQs
Are my eggs safe to eat?
We go to careful lengths to ensure that Vital Farms eggs that are on shelves and in your home are not impacted. If, despite our preventative efforts, a case of avian influenza does occur on one of our farms, the eggs from that farm are discarded before they reach grocery store shelves. It is rare for Avian Influenza to infect humans. You can refer to the FDA’s website to learn more.
Are Vital Farms Eggs still Pasture-raised?
Yes! Pasture-raised eggs are laid by hens that can spend their days outdoors roaming the pastures as they please. In a pasture-raised system, hens have a minimum of 108 square feet per bird and access to fresh air and sunshine year-round. However, these temporarily housed flocks will return to their standard outdoor lifestyle as soon as it is safe to do so.
What do the girls eat while they’re in the barn?
Our girls receive the same supplemental feed and water as they would if they were outside. We also provide them with high-quality foraging materials, which include many of the nutrients they’d normally find in the grass outdoors. Our nutritional experts are keeping a close eye on their needs and continue to adjust their feed accordingly.
Are any of your farms affected by Avian Influenza?
Since Fall of 2022, only five of the 425+ family farms that we work with have been impacted by Avian Influenza. The most recent case happened on a single farm in April 2024. Whenever one of our farms is impacted, we work with the farmer to follow best practices and regulatory guidance, and we help that farmer get their operation back up and running when it’s safe to do so. Throughout the year, our farmers may house their birds inside the barn to help protect them from contracting AI, in line with guidance we receive from state regulators.
Is your supply affected by Avian Influenza?
The Vital Farms egg supply is not impacted by Avian Influenza, but we are seeing a higher demand for our eggs. Our crew is working hard to keep grocery shelves stocked as quickly as possible.
Does avian influenza impact your Traceability farm videos?
When we bring a new farm into the Vital Farms Family, it takes time to get their video up and running. There are a lot of logistics that go into setting up camera gear out in the remote pastures that won’t disrupt our girls’ lifestyle.
Avian Influenza adds another layer of complexity. Our farms have heightened biosecurity restrictions as well as a focus on keeping our hens safe during the current Avian Influenza outbreak. This has delayed us in getting videos of new farms at this time. Our team is actively working through these challenges and greatly appreciates your patience!
How many Vital Farms hens are being temporarily sheltered indoors as of March 17, 2025?
Number of egg farms in the Vital Farms network
425+
Percentage of farms housing hens in barns
70%
Updates on Avian Influenza
December 23, 2024
While none of the 375+ family farms that work within our decentralized supplier base have positive cases of Avian Influenza (AI) right now, we’ve seen a typical seasonal spike in AI cases in states where we operate. A majority of our farms are temporarily housing their birds in barns, in line with the guidance received from state regulators and our network of animal welfare experts.
As a reminder, Avian Influenza (AI) spreads when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. AI cases typically spike in the spring and fall during wild bird migration periods.
Our Farm Support team is committed to supporting our farmers by working closely with regulatory agencies and animal welfare experts to track cases, use enhanced biosecurity measures, and provide the resources they need to keep their flocks healthy. While hens are in the barn, our farmers continue to prioritize animal welfare, which includes measures like carefully managing barn ventilation and providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments.
Pasture-raised eggs are laid by hens that can spend their days outdoors roaming the pastures as they please. Our pasture-raised hens have access to a minimum of 108 square feet per bird along with fresh air and sunshine year-round. These temporarily housed flocks will return to their standard outdoor lifestyle as soon as it is safe to do so.
We are dedicated to staying transparent on the status of our farms. We regularly update the percentage of farms that are keeping their birds inside, which you can find here, and will continue to update this page with any significant developments.
December 13, 2023
We were recently notified that a farm producing Vital Farms eggs was impacted by Avian Influenza (AI). Our team is focused right now on supporting the impacted farmer and helping get their family farm back up and running. We’re working with them on all of the federally-mandated protocols and drawing on the expertise in our network of veterinary experts, farm support crew and regulatory officials.
We work with over 300 farms to produce Vital Farms eggs. Our decentralized supplier base means that we don’t expect an individual case to create any significant disruption to our egg supply or our overall business. The positive case on this single farm represents less than 0.5% of our egg supply.
As a reminder, Avian Influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. “Bird flu” does not normally infect humans, but it is a serious issue for chickens and typically spikes in the spring and fall.
We will continue to communicate and share information about how AI impacts all of our stakeholders, and we’ll post any major developments on this page as the situation evolves.
November 3, 2023
None of the 300+ family farms that Vital Farms works within our decentralized supplier base have positive cases of Avian Influenza (AI) right now, but we’ve seen a seasonal spike in AI cases in states where we operate. A number of our farms are housing their birds in the barns, in line with the guidance that we get from state regulators.
As a reminder, Avian Influenza (AI) spreads when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. AI cases typically happen in the spring and fall when wild birds migrate.
Our Farm Support team works closely with regulatory agencies, animal welfare experts and farmers to track cases and provide support. While hens are inside the barn, our farmers continue to prioritize animal welfare, which includes carefully managing barn ventilation and providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments.
We are dedicated to staying transparent on the status of our farms. We regularly update the percentage of farms that are keeping their birds inside, which you can find here and we will continue to update this page with any significant developments.
November 21, 2022
On November 19th, 2022, we were notified that a farm producing Vital Farms eggs was impacted by Avian Influenza (AI). This is the first time one of our farms has had a confirmed positive case of AI.
Avian Influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. “Bird flu” does not normally infect humans, and the risk of transmission by consuming shell eggs is low, but it is a serious issue for chickens that typically spikes in the spring and fall during migration periods. Since early 2022, more than 49 million birds in 46 states have either died as a result of bird flu or have been culled (euthanized) because they were exposed to infected birds.
We’re working directly with the one impacted farm in Vital Farms’ network to follow all of the state-mandated protocols and we’re committed to supporting them through this incredibly difficult time. Because we source our eggs from over 300 family farms and this is an isolated incident on one farm, there’s no anticipated material impact to our overall supply.
We continue to track the issue closely. In addition to the work we’re doing with this single impacted farm, we’re working with our farmers, veterinary experts, state officials, and auditors to keep our girls as safe as possible. As you’d expect from us, we will be as transparent and proactive as possible about how this impacts all of our stakeholders, and we’ll post any major developments on this page as the situation evolves.
March 28, 2022
We want to update our stakeholders on Avian Influenza, a virus that affects chickens and has been recently reported in the UK and U.S. For background, avian influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. First and foremost, we’re thinking of any farmers and animals that have been affected by this virus.
Our Farm Support crew has been following this virus since cases were first reported in Europe several months ago. We’ve been working with our farmers, veterinary partners, and government health officials to protect the health of our girls. We also sought guidance from our animal welfare auditors including Certified Humane® and Oregon Tilth to ensure any approach we take has their approval as it relates to animal welfare standards.
At this time, our veterinary partners, certifying bodies, and state health officials have strongly recommended that we keep our hens indoors, and we are following this guidance. We’ve also implemented heightened biosecurity measures across our network of 275 farms. Because avian influenza is spread by wild migratory fowl, hens with outdoor access could be particularly vulnerable. We shared this decision with our auditors who agree with this approach. While the hens are inside the barn, our farmers continue to prioritize animal welfare which includes carefully managing barn ventilation and providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments.
While we hope the girls will be out on pasture again soon, we believe this is the best approach to keep them as safe as possible.
More Questions?
We’re committed to keeping you informed as we continue to navigate Avian Influenza. If there’s more you’d like to know, we’re here to answer your questions.
