Otago poultry producers are scrambling to fill egg orders as the Ukraine invasion and the effects of 10-year-old legislation slams the industry.
Small egg farmers are having to shift away from cage farming or leave the industry, leaving not enough eggs to go around.
While the price of eggs is going up, egg producers are not seeing further profits as feed prices were rising dramatically.
Egg Producers Federation executive director Michael Brooks said the industry had undergone a "complete change" in the past 10 years.
In 2012, the government put into place a code of welfare for laying hens with changes to be made within 10 years’ time, which meant battery cages would no longer be legal by the end of 2022.
At the time about 84% of producers used the cage method.
Now they are having to redesign their businesses around the colony, barn or free range methods, each which brought their own challenges and expenses.
Many opted for the colony method, which still saw chickens caged, but in groups up to 60 with a nesting area, scratching post and perches, he said.
However, most major supermarkets have pledged to stop selling colony eggs by at latest 2027. Countdown will quit selling colony eggs by 2025.
Mr Brooks said this made staying in the industry not worth it for many small producers, as upgrading to colony costs millions.
Another issue was the cost of feed, which had skyrocketed since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine was a major producer of wheat around the world and it would take a long time for the price to come down.
About 65% of egg production cost came from feed.
All of this came off the back of Covid-19 which had already challenged small business owners, he said.
The grain costs are being felt by producers across the region.
The price of eggs had gone up, but with the increased feed costs he was not making any more profit.
All of the changes had pushed out other producers and there was not enough supply to meet the demand.
He was having to ration his stock to commercial customers and had little to spare.
He had tried to source eggs from other farms to meet demand, but could not get enough.
Quested Poultry manager Steve Quested said he was receiving more and more calls from new customers, but was having to turn them down.
Although the move away from caged hens affected businesses, the Government had to draw a line in the sand somewhere, he said.
The business had spent more than $1 million changing to colony farming.
