ZACHARY— Across the nation, bird flu is destroying flocks and creating egg shortages. In Southeast Louisiana, farmers are filling that poultry gap.

Kickn' Chickn' Farm is a homestead in Zachary that sells eggs. Over the past three weeks, Owners Chris and Nicole Young said business has grown and now the farm has backorders for all the eggs demanded.

"It has definitely picked up," Nicole Young said.

Demand has doubled. The farm is selling 14 dozen eggs a week.

"Pretty much as the chickens lay, they are sold," Chris Young said.

Despite this, the family has tried to keep prices low, selling for five dollars per dozen which is a slight increase due to higher feeding costs.

"Even my aunt last week told my mom, well, how much is Nicki selling her eggs for? 'She's selling them for five dollars.' She said, 'That's high.' My mom was like, Have you been to the grocery store?'" Nicole Young said.

Over in Slaughter, the Tri-Parish Co-op said they have got 300 baby chicks coming in.

"There's going to be a lot more sold, the demand's high," Tri-Parish Co-Op Sales Associate Loretta Barber said. "The price in the stores skyrocketed, people can't afford that."

Barber said the price of chicks is increasing, and adds it is cheaper to raise chickens than purchase them from the store.

"They went from 3.50... 4.50 to 5.50 this year," Barber said.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, egg prices started to climb in December. With recent cases of bird flu killing off laying hens, egg prices stay high. One report expects egg prices to continue to increase by twenty percent throughout 2025.

George Ellis with the Broken Pine Goat Ranch and Poultry Farm said he does not expect egg prices to drop anytime soon.

"There's a lack of birds. They've killed millions of them around the country. It takes five months to raise them again. The Bird Flu threw them off schedule as far as their schedule looks like for replacing birds, so they've got a big spot that's empty," Ellis said.

Which is why Ellis is bringing on forty more hens to meet demand, replacing hens that are not productive.

"They're calling me ahead of time because they don't want to pay six seven dollars for eggs that aren't any better than mine," Ellis said.

Kickn' Chickn' said they know why people want their eggs.

"I understand the convenience to of going to the grocery store, but it's almost not convenient enough anymore," Nicole Young said.

For those interested in contacting the Kickn' Chickn' Farm, you can call 225-278-1944.

For those who want to reach the Broken Pine Goat Ranch and Poultry Farm, you can find their Facebook page here.