BUCKEYE, Ariz. — The largest egg producer in Arizona is bringing in new chickens for the first time since the farm was devastated by bird flu.

To see them, though, is no small feat.

Hickman's family farms recently lost more than eight million chickens to the avian flu, which also caused the company to furlough many in their workforce.

"It's been tough because it's not just employees, we're all a family here," Jessica Ven, who runs the vaccination group, said. "So, just knowing certain people had lost their jobs, it hurts, because again, we're not just employees, we're all pretty much a family."

Bringing in new chicks is the first step into repopulating the farms and hopefully, bringing back staff. In the last few days, more than 300,000 chicks were brought in.

"This is the first s

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