Poultry Industry Animal Management

A Little History Chickens have been a source of food for thousands of years. Believe to have originated from wild jungle birds found in southeast Asia Became popular because they were easy to maintain and a good source of meat and eggs

History cont. Hatcheries where the first segment to become commercialized with the invention of the incubator In the late 1920’s, hatcheries began cross-breeding to improve productivity Farm flocks were extremely important in the Depression Era WWII brought forth the commercialization of poultry production operations

The Egg Industry Most laying operations are hybrid White Leghorns or sex-linked hybrids that resemble New Hampshire Reds and barred Plymouth Rocks. Hybrid hen produce over 300 eggs a year. Produce 90 billion eggs each year. 85% for food----15% for hatching 98% of U.S. egg production is sold and consumed in the United States Americans eat 250 eggs/person/year

U.S. Egg Per Capita Consumption (Total Egg Production Divided by Total Population) 2001 - 252.8 2002 - 255.9 2003 - 254.7 2004 - 257.1 2005 - 255.0 Source: American Egg Board

Top Ten Egg Producing States Iowa Ohio Indiana Pennsylvania California Texas Nebraska Florida Minnesota Georgia Source: American Egg Board (Posted 3/5/07)

U.S. Value of Egg Production Down 1 Percent Value of all egg production in 2004 was $5.30 billion, down 1 percent from the $5.33 billion in 2003. Egg production totaled 89.1 billion eggs, up 2 percent from the 87.5 billion eggs produced in 2003. In 2004, all eggs averaged 71.4 cents per dozen, compared with 73.2 cents in 2003.

The Broiler Industry Considered an American Agriculture success story. Broilers have the most efficient feed conversion ratio of any domesticated land-based animal. Before the broiler industry, chicken was considered a luxury meat

Broiler Industry Cont. U.S. consumption of chicken meat climbed above pork consumption in 1985 and above beef consumption in 1992. Poultry meat exports became an important factor for the industry in the 1990’s.

Broiler Exports (1,000 Pounds) (Posted 2/24/05) 2000 - 4,918,000 2001 - 5,555,000 2002 - 4,807,000 2003 - 4,932,000 2004 - estimated 4,600,000 2005 - forecasted 4,900,000

Meat Chickens Slaughtered in 2006 State Number Liveweight Average 1,000 head 1,000 pounds Pounds Georgia 1,297,446 6,709,156 5.2 Arkansas 1,155,135 6,062,721 Alabama 1,078,711 5,824,062 5.4 North Carolina 698,248 4,749,347 6.8 Mississippi 749,790 4,309,795 5.7 Texas 665,540 3,510,512 5.3 Delaware 301,317 2,012,321 6.7 Missouri 413,484 1,918,994 4.6 South Carolina 278,906 1,733,601 6.2 Virginia 319,497 1,662,152 Kentucky 278,425 1,529,521 5.5 Tennessee 271,916 1,387,123 5.1 Louisiana 191,913 1,102,235 Maryland 140,370 670,650 4.8 Pennsylvania 117,256 649,860 Ohio 45,214 241,578 Other States 834,587 4,259,009 Total 8,837,755 48,332,637 5.47

U.S. Value of Broiler Production Up 34 Percent The value of broilers produced during 2004 was $20.4 billion, up 34 percent from 2003. The total number of broilers produced in 2004 was 8.74 billion, up 3 percent from 2003. The total amount of live weight broilers produced in 2004 was 45.8 billion pounds, up 4 percent from 2003. The 2004 average price per pound on a live weight equivalent basis was 44.6 cents per pound, compared with 34.6 cents in 2003.

Top 10 Broiler Companies (Posted 2/24/05) Tyson Foods 151.30 Pilgrim's Pride Corporation 109.06 Gold Kist 61.79 Perdue Farms Inc. 51.32 Sanderson Farms 30.39 Wayne Farms LLC 28.95 Mountaire Farms Inc. 23.44 Foster Farms 16.51 OK Foods Inc. 15.80 Peco Foods Inc. 15.60 Total 504.16 Ready to cook pounds, millions Source: Watt PoultryUSA