Focus - Poultry: Broiler Chicken Production in the U.S.

Focus – Poultry: Broiler Chicken Production in the U.S.

The commercial broiler industry in the United States began in Delaware over 80 years ago. A “broiler” is a chicken raised for meat rather than eggs. Before the development of the broiler industry, chicken meat was mostly a by-product of egg production. Chicken was reserved for special occasions and not consumed on a regular basis. ¹ Large-scale, year-round broiler production became possible in the mid 1920’s. Scientists developed ways to meet the nutritional needs of chickens in protected environments.

A color photo of a man inspecting cleaned, whole chickens hanging from a conveyor line in a broiler production facility.
Inspecting broiler chickens.

Today, Americans consume nearly 80 lb of chicken per person annually, which is more than either beef or pork. Nationally, broiler production has increased greatly to meet this demand. The National Agricultural Statistic Service reports over 170 million broiler chicks are placed on feed each week. The average live weight of the broilers produced is 5.06 lb. Broiler industry has emerged from millions of small backyard flocks in the early 1900’s into less than 50 highly specialized, vertically integrated agribusiness firms.

The vertical integration of the broiler industry provides an efficient way to produce chicken meat. Integrators are companies with hatcheries, feed mills, grain elevators, processing plants, and distribution networks who contract with individual farmers to grow chickens. They do everything in the process of delivering fresh chicken to the marketplace except tending the birds. Ownership of the birds is maintained by the company.

Contract growers, often family farmers, contract with the integrators to grow chickens. A family farm unit on a full time basis is generally considered to be approximately 120,000 birds. ² Growers must adhere to the specific quality standards established by the integrator. The primary functions of the grower are to feed and water the birds and monitor and maintain environmental conditions in the house (temperature, humidity, and air quality) to ensure a comfortable environment for the birds. Growers are paid an agreed dollar amount per thousand birds based on the contract.

The integrator delivers the chicks from the company hatcheries to the grower. For energy reasons chicks are placed in one end of the house upon initial placement. As the chicks grow, the area is expanded until the entire house is open to the flock. The floor of the house is covered with litter, a wood-based bedding material that is normally distributed in poultry houses prior to birds being placed. Without any significant disease, there will be a normal mortality rate of 4 percent. The integrator returns approximately 50 days later to pick up the adult chickens.

A color photo of the interior of broiler chicken house. There are thousands of chickens in the long, narrow building.
The interior of a broiler chicken house.

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In This Issue
Section 1: Client Story – The McCahills: Creativity and Technology Help a Delaware Couple Keep Raising Chickens Section 2: Focus – Poultry: Broiler Chicken Production in the U.S. Section 3: Assistive Technology Notes – Assistive Technologies for Poultry Operations	Section 4: State Project Feature – Delaware-Maryland AgrAbility Project Section 5: References and Resources Section 6: Contacts