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Poultry
Production
Poultry production is an important and diverse component of American
agriculture. Poultry products including eggs, chicken and turkey meat
are a healthy part of the diets of most Americans. In 1997, nearly 99,700
farms were producing poultry and poultry products (egg, broiler, and turkey;
NASS/USDA). While broiler chicken production is concentrated primarily
in the southern and southeastern U.S., turkey production occurs primarily
in the Corn Belt and in North Carolina. Egg production is distributed
throughout the U.S.
Modern poultry production occurs primarily in enclosed buildings to
protect the birds from weather, predators, and the spread of diseases
from wild birds. This has allowed farmers to greatly increase production
efficiency while significantly reducing the amount of labor required.
As with pork production, this has resulted in environmental challenges
with production of larger volumes of manure in much smaller areas.
This module will cover the modernization of poultry production over the
past 60 years, different phases of production and the production systems
in which they occur.
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