McDonald's in Australia has announced that breakfast will be terminated at10h30 back from noon. Apparently, the action was taken as a result of shortages of medium eggs as a result of depopulation of 1.5 million laying hens representing seven percent of the nation’s total. In effect it is questioned whether the restriction was actually imposed to enhance efficiency and speed of service to avoid operating with two sets of menus that incurs additional labor and time.  Eggs are available  but at a proportionally higher price due to disruption in the balance between supply and demand.

Each of the ten chicken outbreaks of H7 HPAI that have occurred among the states of Victoria  and New South Wales has been contained, but a temporary shortage has occurred and will persists until replacement flocks attain maturity.  Retailers have placed limits on the number of cartons of eggs purchased by consumers.

The problem of avian influenza in Australia is exacerbated by adoption of free-range management when the nation commenced transitioning from cage housing.