The Poultry Industry Spring 2013

U.S. Poultry Industry  Broilers  Eggs  Turkey

U.S. Poultry Industry  Highly specialized and efficient set of enterprises.  Leader in trends of industrialization in agriculture over the last 50 years.  Started on family farms in the Midwest – grain production plentiful.  Broilers – small flocks; eggs – grocery money.  Spread to east coast – Maine & Delmarva California  South – labor plentiful, inexpensive housing, mild climate

Commercial Production Today  95% w/20,000 growers  85% of eggs are produced by 2,000 large companies  20,000 growers provide 18% of production

Importance Poultry convert feedstuff to food efficiently. As indicated below, Boilers have the most favorable PER and FC ratio. Species Feed/ Grain Cattle 6.5 – 7.9 Sheep 6.3 – 7.1 Swine 3.1 – 3.9 Broilers 1.8 – 2.2 Turkeys 2.5 – 3.2

Importance  Poultry industry is dynamic  Short period required for growth and marketing  Can adjust rapidly to changing economic factors  feed, availability, cost, number of birds on feed.  Other livestock industries require longer length of time from birth to market (e.g. cattle).

Importance  By-product feeds fed to poultry: blood meal, fish meal, meat and bone, distillers grains.  Not used for human consumption

Importance  Layers provide a continuous source of food.  Meat animals must be fed for a long period of time before a usable product is obtained.  Layers produce several times its weight in eggs.  Products from meat animals are restricted to final market weight.

Importance  Vegetarians consume eggs.  In some countries meat eaters are the minority.  Religion.  Egg consumption acceptable.

Importance  Poultry products are relatively inexpensive.  Poultry meats are one of the best meat buys in the supermarket.

Importance  Poultry manure as fertilizer.  Organic farming  Premium price?  Rich in Nitrogen and organic material.  By-product feed for ruminants

Broiler Production States that Produce the most Broilers -Arkansas-Georgia-Alabama -North Carolina -Mississippi

The Broiler Industry  Today, almost all of the poultry is raised in large operations  The term broiler refers to chickens which are about 7-8 weeks of age and are raised for meat

The Broiler Industr y  concentrated in the South East  leading states are Arkansas, Georgia, and Alabama  majority of broilers raised in this country are raised on contract

Broiler Houses  raised in large houses where the birds spend most of their lives  designed to provide the ultimate in environmental conditions for the comfort of the birds.

Broiler Houses  generally lighted 24 hours a day  helps cut down on cannibalism

Broiler Production  process begins with the production of eggs that will be hatched into chicks.  Parents are selected from breeds that are large and muscular

Broiler Production  most are hybrids derived from mating of different breeds  usually mated through artificial insemination  results in heterosis or hybrid vigor

Hybrid Vigor  the resulting offspring are healthier and out produce the average of their parents.

Broiler Production  most are white  colored birds have pigmentation spots in their skin which is undesirable to the consumer

Egg Production

 the shell is formed in the uterus  in hours the shell is completed and moves to the vagina and out of the hens body.

Egg Production  hens prefer nesting boxes that are enclosed  gives the chickens a feeling of security

Egg Production  some facilities collect eggs with the use of a conveyor belt  the egg rolls out of the nest box and onto the belt

Egg Production  eggs must be kept clean and free from contamination  if the egg becomes soiled it will not be used for hatching

Egg Production  dirt may be easily scrubbed off the egg  this process can press dirt into the shell and removes the protective coating on the egg

Layer Industry  Per capita egg consumption in the U.S. has drastically decreased over the past thirty years.  Even with the decrease in demand, the layer industry is quite strong.

Layer Industry  Over 90% of eggs produced are by layers in cages.  The most common grouping is four hens per cage.  Some layers produce brown eggs and some produce white eggs.

Layer Industry  Most eggs sold in the U.S. are white.  In commercial operations, lighting is used to stimulate the hormonal activity of the hens to increase their production of eggs.

Layer Industry  They produce eggs naturally when the days are longer than the nights.  Most operations allow hours of light per day.

Layer Industry  As eggs are laid they roll onto a conveyor belt where they go to a work room where they are cleaned if necessary and refrigerated.

Layer Industry  Eggs are coated with a thin coat of mineral oil to prevent carbon dioxide from escaping from within the egg.  Eggs are graded according to size and checked for cracks and interior spots by candling.

Turkey Production

The turkey industry  The sale of turkey is second to chicken in the overall sale of poultry meat.  Between 1980 and 1990 turkey consumption increased 92% in the U.S.

The turkey industry  Turkey represents a high quality, low cost, nutritious source of food protein.  One third of all turkey sales occur during the weeks around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The turkey industry  The modern white turkey is a descendant of the wild turkey and is result of a mutation which left the gene out for feather and skin pigmentation.  Heavy muscled, broad breasted birds have been developed.

The turkey industry  These highly developed birds are not efficient breeders.  The physical act of mating is difficult because of the weight of the birds and because of this they are reluctant to breed.

The turkey industry  This problem is solved through artificial insemination.  They heavy breasted birds have another problem.  Their legs can ’ t support them when they reach a certain size and the weight of their breasts makes them tip over.

The turkey industry  Turkeys are grown in confinement houses and on ranges.

Other poultry  In some parts of the world ducks and geese make up a major portion of the poultry raised and consumed.  This is true in China and Southeast Asia.

Other poultry  In some areas quail and pheasant are grown for the gourmet food and restaurant market and for release in the wild to stock the population for hunters.

Careers In Poultry

Future of the Industry 1.Increased biotechnology. 2.Increased mass production- year round availability of products. 3.More contract and integrated production. Larger integrators. 4.Increased labor- saving device. 5.Sustainable agriculture. 6.Increased attention to poultry behavior and welfare. 7.Increased food safety. 8.Increased quality of products. 9.Increased consumption.