From farm to store, why eggs are costing more

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- While the Justice Department is in the early stages of investigating major egg producers over soaring prices, we went to local farms to see why they're charging more and how long it will last.

Life at the Norz Hill Farm and Market in Somerset County, New Jersey has never been easy.

But now, the bird flu is making it even it has gotten tougher for Debbie and Rich Norz, 4th generation farmers.

"We do it for the love, we don't do it for the financial gain," said Debbie.

They have 900 acres of crops, animals, and chickens, which has become a hot commodity.

"You don't want the eggs to break or the eggs to crack," said Debbie.

Each one counts. Store prices for a dozen eggs have increased by more than 50% in just the past year.

"The costs for us have gone up for everything," said Rich.

The farm has invested in what it calls, "biosecurity measures", that separate the chickens from other animals.

"Birds that are out there flying around, if they get in there an co-mingle with your birds and do have that strain of this bird flu disease, it'll pass right into your birds," he said.

Adding, "Keeping them out of there is a very big concern," Rich said.

Farmers are charging more but say they're having to spend more.

They have to replace each chicken every two years and the cost to buy a new one has tripled since the outbreak started.

"They're going for $23 a bird compared to when they were just $6 a bird not too long ago," said Debbie.

Nationwide, more than 160 million birds have been killed to help contain the outbreak.

Federal policy requires once an outbreak is spotted, all of the farm's birds have to be euthanized.

Luckily, it hasn't happened to the Norz family yet but chicken prices have affected all farmers.

"All of those birds that need to be replaced still have to grow," said Debbie.

It takes about 5 months for new birds to lay eggs.

With so many farmers looking to replace their flocks, they don't see prices coming down to average anytime soon.

"We're all doing our best please don't yell and think we're trying to price gouge we just have to make sure we're covering our costs," said Debbie.

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