How many of vital farms hens were culled in current outbreak?

Vital Farms does not publicly disclose the exact number of individual hens that were culled during the current bird flu crisis. However, they do track and report the impact on their network of farms.

According to their latest updates as of mid-2026, the company has managed to avoid the massive, multi-million bird culls that devastated conventional egg producers. Since the current outbreak cycle began in the fall of 2022, only five out of the 600+ independent farms in the Vital Farms network have been infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). The most recent infection occurred on a single farm in April 2024.

There are two main reasons why their losses have been so contained compared to the broader commodity industry:

• A Decentralized Supply Chain: Conventional commodity producers often house millions of birds in massive, centralized complexes. If the virus breaches one of those mega-barns, the entire facility—often millions of chickens—must be culled immediately. Vital Farms relies on a decentralized network of small, independent family farms. If an outbreak occurs on one farm, the impact is isolated to that specific small flock, preventing a catastrophic disruption to their overall supply.
• Mandatory Indoor Sheltering: Even though Vital Farms' core identity is "pasture-raised," the company works closely with state regulators and veterinarians during high-risk periods (such as peak wild bird migration seasons). When the risk of HPAI in a specific region is severe, Vital Farms temporarily locks the hens inside their barns to prevent them from coming into contact with wild waterfowl, which are the primary carriers of the virus.