I just read an interesting twist, which is that the states that were transitioning to cage-free had been doing marginally better against H1N1, but now are being hit as hard as non-cage free operations as the virulence increases. So you may be seeing the cage free states just catching up to the rest of rest of country in bird flu impact. So cage-free may be a factor in why a price increase now, but not the cost issue per se.
https://www.fooddive.com/news/post-holdings-egg-business-impacted-by-bird-flu-as-prices-rise/735694/#:~:text=Michael Foods%2C responsible for brands,about 14% of Post's supply.