GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)—

Right now, a dozen eggs will cost you more than four dollars, even more than a gallon of gas. The price reflects how avian flu has already swept through more than a hundred species of birds and is particularly lethal to chickens, with a 90 to 100 percent mortality rate.

 Now more families want to collect their own eggs right at home.

So many families are buying birds, that demand is through the roof. Murdochs told me they’ve been selling chicks since January and usually sell out in less than a day, tractor supply has been stocking for 3 weeks now, they told me they run out of stock in just a few hours…

Today, was Fruita’s Co-op Country just first delivery of chicks for the season.  People lined up before the 650 even arrived.

 and in the first hour and a half, they’d already sold 300 chicks. Growers box these chicks up the day they hatch and send them by air to regional hubs, which then deliver them to your local ranch supply stores.

Ranch stores are re-stocking every week hoping to keep up with demand before egg prices go down or supplies run out. Co-op Country said within the first hour and a half after chicks went on sale they had already sold over 300