The top line: A bird flu outbreak at two egg farms that forced half a million chickens to be culled could rob supermarket shelves of 450,000 eggs per day, as farmers warn bio-security measures may push up prices.
The bigger picture: More than 500,000 chickens across two farms have been culled to contain the spread of the highly pathogenic virus, leaving a significant dent in supplies of eggs, the Victorian Farmers Federation said.
The key quote: "Birds in their peak production will produce five to six eggs a week," vice president and egg farmer Danyel Cucinotta told AAP.
"In this scenario, you're looking at about 450,000 eggs a day that will be missing from the shelf."
What happens next: An Aldi spokesman told AAP customers may notice "small gaps on shelves in some stores" over the coming days.
Woolworths told AAP it doesn't expect the outbreak to impact its supply.
Cucinotta estimated it could take between six months to three years for the impacted farms to return to normal production.
