No egg shortage amid diseases in layer chickens - DA

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) has assured the public of enough egg supply amid field reports of diseases that have hit egg-laying chickens in some areas in Luzon.

Agriculture spokesperson Arnel de Mesa cited a report from the Bureau of Animal Industry that layer chickens in Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon were affected by a viral respiratory infection and another illness that results in death.

“There [is] some mortality in the grow-outs and the performance [of layers] is not reaching 90%,” De Mesa said in a briefing on Wednesday, March 26.

De Mesa said the diseases could affect egg size or failure to lay eggs depending on stress level.

He said the diseases were common and can be easily controlled and cured unlike avian influenza.

De Mesa said the illnesses could impact prices within a month.

In January, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. warned of a possible egg shortage by April.

“To mitigate the risk, the DA is expediting the importation of egg-laying chickens and pushing for immediate approval of avian influenza vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration,” the agency previously said.

De Mesa said the DA will be monitoring the prices of eggs and chicken meat.

He said prices of medium-sized eggs have increased by P0.50, with the prevailing price at P8.

For whole chicken meat, De Mesa said the prevailing price has risen to P220/kg from P200/kg to P210/kg in previous weeks. He added that the agency has no information yet on the price hike trigger.

“‘Yong manok historically hindi ganun kalaro ang presyo. We don’t see at this point na magkaroon ng MSRP (maximum suggested retail price),” he said.

[Translation: Historically, the price of chicken meat doesn’t vary much. We don’t see at this point that we would impose an MSRP on chicken meat.]

The MSRP is the price ceiling based on production cost.