Evolution of an Industry
Comparing the early poultry industry to today
Jerry Schleicher
October 2009
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Egg scale.
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Editor’s note: This comparison between early 20th century and modern poultry production is in addition to “A Museum Worth Crowing About,” Jerry Schleicher’s article on the National Poultry Museum, Bonner Springs, Kan.
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1910: Remember egg money? Farm families sell excess eggs in town for grocery money.
Today: Several dozen commercial egg farms produce more than 90 billion eggs annually.
1910: If you could find them, each egg-laying hen produced about 100 eggs per year.
Today: Hens in commercial egg operations produce an average of more than 250 eggs annually (equal to average per capita egg consumption in the U.S.).
1910: The most popular varieties of chickens include Leghorns and Rock Islands.
Today: Most broiler chickens are hybrids developed for fast growth, while poultry fanciers raise dozens of exotic varieties for meat, eggs and show.
1910-40: Farm flocks peak, with most of America’s 6.36 million farm families raising flocks of chickens for meat, eggs and cash.
Today: Vertical integration rules, with nearly 99 percent of the 9 billion broilers produced in the U.S. grown under contract with 50 vertically integrated poultry companies.
1910: Free-range chickens before free-range was cool. Farm flocks are housed in small colony houses or open front poultry houses and often have the run of the farmyard.
Today: Climate-controlled broiler houses measuring 20,000 square feet or more provide a closed environment to reduce heat stress and disease, and improve feed conversion.