UNL professor and Lincoln restaurant react to chicken shortage

For all the chicken lovers, heads up. You might be paying more for your food. There is a nationwide chicken shortage.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Things like chicken sandwiches, hot wings and tenders are flying off the shelves.

“It sounded kind of crazy at first, but I hate to say this, but I think we’re going to have to eat more hamburgers this summer,” University of Nebraska-Lincoln Animal Science Professor Sheila Purdum.

The demand for chicken is higher than ever, and the prices are going up too.

“Before last year and like Superbowl and stuff, we expected chicken to go up like $100 a case. now we’re talking about $160 a case of fresh chicken, like what’s going on here,” GrannyWeavs owner George Weaver asked.

A pandemic and lack of workers are all to blame, but experts say so are the birds themselves.

Tyson Foods released statements on Wednesday saying its roosters that are used for breeding are not meeting expectations.

“We’re changing out a male that quite frankly, we made a bad decision on,” Tyson’s chief operating officer Donnie King said.

Purdum is a UNL professor and has worked in the poultry industry for nearly 30 years. She said the rooster Tyson used is called a Modern Broiler. It’s a hybrid chicken that has been developed for the last 60 years.

It’s causing all the madness. Purdum said the industry is always looking for ways to make bigger cuts of meat, specifically breasts.

She’s seen that in the turkey industry, but it comes with a downfall. Bigger roosters don’t always want to mate with smaller hens.

“You can over-select for breast meals, and I just didn’t see it happening in the boiler industry and now it’s happened.”

Even a two to three percent drop in efficiency of fertility can affect supply.

Local restaurants right here in Lincoln are taking the hit.

GrannyWeavs Soul Food and Catering has had to limit the amount of wings that come in large party pack orders.

“It’s hard for restaurants like us,” Weaver said. “We specialize in chicken, you know chicken wings, brisket ribs, and stuff like that. “If we had it on hand, it be more better for us.”

Experts say it will take a good four to five months to fix this problem because that’s how long it takes a rooster to get ready to mate.