CANBERRA, July 2 (Reuters) - Good luck getting a

late-morning McMuffin in Australia.

McDonald's has cut breakfast service timings by

1-1/2 hours, the company said, after a shortage of eggs caused

by bird flu outbreaks that have led to the slaughter of about

1.5 million chickens.

"Like many retailers, we are carefully managing supply of

eggs due to current industry challenges," McDonald's said on

Facebook, adding that from Tuesday it would stop serving

breakfast at 10:30 a.m. instead of the usual time of midday.

"We are working hard with our Aussie farmers and suppliers

to return this back to normal as soon as possible," the fast

food company said.

Australia is battling outbreaks of several strains of highly

pathogenic avian influenza that have struck 11 poultry

facilities, most of them egg farms, in its southeast since May.

None of the strains are the H5N1 variant of bird flu that

has spread through bird and mammal populations worldwide,

infecting billions of animals and a small number of humans.

Fewer than 10% of Australia's egg-laying hens have been

affected and authorities say they are successfully containing

the virus, but several retailers have set limits on the number

of eggs customers may buy.

There has been some disruption to egg supply, with shelves

in some stores emptying towards the end of the day, Rowan

McMonnies, the managing director of industry body Australian

Eggs, said last week.

"Consumers can be assured there's still over 20 million hens

under the care of hundreds of egg farmers across Australia that

will continue to work hard to ensure there's eggs on shelves,"

he added.

Bird flu spreads to farmed animals from wild birds. The 2024

infections are Australia's 10th outbreak since 1976, each

contained and eradicated, the government has said.