The poultry industry in the Russian Federation is in a state of deep crisis. The mass destruction of laying hens has resulted from a sharp decline in egg prices and financial losses for enterprises. In June, the price of first-category eggs fell to 2 rubles (1 hryvnia), which is half the production cost of 4–5 rubles (2–3 hryvnias).
This is reported by Finway
Mass Destruction of Hens and Feed Shortages
Poultry farms across Russia are forced to destroy their flocks en masse due to losses, asset seizures, and feed shortages. At one farm in Novomyshastivka (Krasnodar Krai), about 150,000 hens were left without feed, resulting in the birds becoming aggressive and starting to eat each other. This situation arose due to the seizure of the company’s assets over debts to a feed mill, and the farm itself has been put up for sale with a starting price of 280 million rubles.
In Udmurtia, the situation is no better: unknown individuals discarded over 3,000 dead laying hens on the street, some of which died from starvation. According to industry representatives, similar cases are being reported in other regions as well.
Causes of the Crisis and Farmers’ Forecasts
According to the “People’s Farmer” Association, the decline in profitability in the industry has been observed since the spring of 2025. Even before Easter, prices began to drop sharply, with the most significant decline occurring at the end of May and the beginning of June. Even with a slight increase in price to 3.5 rubles, most producers remain in the red.
“Farms have been operating at a loss for several months, feed supplies are running out, and the situation is truly critical,” says Ksenia Sumkova, a representative of the “People’s Farmer” in Chuvashia.
The main cause of the crisis, experts say, is overproduction: in the first half of 2025, Russia produced 16.5 billion eggs — 6.1% more than in the same period last year. Galina Bobylova, the general director of the Russian Poultry Union, explains that long-term contracts with fixed prices could stabilize the situation, but such agreements are mainly made by large enterprises.
The Ministry of Agriculture acknowledges that overproduction and falling prices have caused a serious imbalance in the market, but emphasizes the importance of supporting a fair price for both consumers and producers. Farmers do not expect the situation to stabilize before autumn, and the current scale of flock destruction highlights the critical state of the industry.