McDonald's shortens breakfast hours in Australia in response to nationwide egg shortage

Australia is facing an egg supply crunch thanks to bird flu outbreaks — and it's led McDonald's to trim breakfast hours by 90 minutes, the company announced.

Australia has been battling outbreaks of the Avian influenza virus in the past few months, which has resulted in about 1 million egg-laying affected hens that have been euthanized to limit the spread of the disease, according to Murray Watt, the country's minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

Citing "industry challenges," McDonald's on Tuesday announced that it was temporarily serving breakfast until 10.30 a.m. instead of midday across Australia.

"Like many retailers, we are carefully managing supply of eggs due to current industry challenges," McDonald's said on its Australia Facebook page, adding that the company is "working hard with our Aussie farmers and suppliers to return this back to normal as soon as possible."

Supermarkets have also reportedly restricted Australians, imposing a two-carton limit per consumer. Australian retail giants Coles and Woolworths reportedly imposed restrictions on how many cartons of eggs could be purchased in one transaction across most states.

Consumers can expect to "see some empty shelves in the short-term," with supplies being redirected to areas experiencing the greatest shortages, the Australian government said in its latest update, adding that there has been no impact on chicken meat supply at this time. 

The government added that it is currently responding to outbreaks of the H7 high pathogenicity avian influenza, or HPAI, at 11 poultry farms.

The impact of avian influenza in Australia is being felt across the poultry industries, Rowan McMonnies, managing director of industry group Australian Eggs said in a statement,