Chicken, turkey, duck and goose are all types of
birds called poultry.
They are reared for meat.
• Poultry is the class of
(birds) farmed for their meat, eggs or
• These most typically are members of
Galliformes (such as chickens and
turkeys),and Anseriformes (waterfowl
such as ducks and geese).
• Chicken is the most popular poultry
utilised for both meat and egg
What types of poultry are there?
•Chickens make up the largest sector of the
•Consumption of chicken in the U.S. is rising
•Chicken is LOW in fat, HIGH in protein and LOW in
cholesterol when compared to meats such as pork and
•There are several breeds of chicken used to produce
different products and types of eggs.
Broiler- used mainly for
meat. A broiler is a chicken
is 6 to 7 weeks of age and
weighs 4 pounds when it is
sent to market.
Poultry Terms to Know
CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE
eggs. Most can lay
Pullet- a young female
Poultry Terms to Know
processing, and distributing
poultry is now one
continuous chain. A large
company is composed of
smaller companies that
carry out all the processes
from manufacturing to
distributing. For example,
Con Agra is one large
company, but they hire
Eggs are laid by broiler hens (parent flock).
Male chickens are called cockerels and female
chickens are called pullets or hens.
Male turkeys are called stags and
female turkeys are called hens.
The eggs are collected
and sent to the hatchery.
The eggs are incubated at the hatchery. They are
kept warm, until the chicks start to hatch out of
Chickens hatch at around 20 days and turkeys
hatch at around 27 days.
Baby chickens are called chicks.
Baby turkeys are called poults.
The hatched birds are then sorted
and transported to Rearing farms.
Did you know?
When a chick hatches it can live healthily for up to
two days without being given any food or water.
This is because it still has nutrients in its stomach
from when it was inside the egg.
This is why chicks do not need food or water when
they are being moved to the rearing farm.
The baby birds are reared in special large houses, which
provide them with water and a special diet.
These houses are cleaned before each new arrival of
Trained staff look after the birds
in the houses every day.
If the birds are ill, special medicines are
given in their food or water.
The birds are reared until
they reach their required weight.
Once the birds reach their required weight they are
transported to the processing plant.
Trained staff called ‘catchers’ catch the birds and
put them in special containers called modules.
Catching is carried out quietly and with care to
avoid unnecessary stress and to prevent injury to the
The modules are then loaded
into lorries and taken to the
Here the birds are processed and packaged.
After the birds have been processed they are
weighed, and then either left whole or portioned.
The meat is then packaged and labelled ready to
be delivered to restaurants, shops and
Poultry includes birds such as chicken, turkey, duck
A breeder farm, hatchery and rearing farm are all
involved in the life cycle of poultry birds.
Hygiene is very important during all parts of poultry
farming to prevent diseases.
Today 2,500 local farm families produce almost
600 million chickens.
The chickens are processed and prepared for
market in 12 processing plants owned by four of
the nation’s top poultry companies.
The kill is quick
Each bird is held gently, thanked for coming
to live with us, and placed in the holding cone.
Their throat is cut, they “jerk” for a minute
and then bleed out quickly. The next step is
picking off the feathers.
When you raise, nurture and kill your own birds,
you really know where they came from.
EGGCITED ABOUT POULTRY
By: Jennie Simpson and Dr. Frank Flanders
Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Offic
Georgia Departmenf Educat
– Chickens that are raised to produce eggs
– Some can lay over 300 eggs/hen/year
• White egg producers
– Small in size
– Eg. White Leghorns- white plumage
• Brown egg producers
– Larger birds that are not as
economical as Leghorns
– Eg. Rhode Island Reds- dark red
• Chickens used for meat production
are called Broilers
• Emphasis placed on the ratio of
feed to meat produced
• Butchered at a young age
• Birds used for meat production are
usually commercial crosses
– Example: White Plymouth Rock
females mated to Cornish (English
PRINCIPLES OF POULTRY
• Use of good quality and right class of
• Provision of good housing
• Maintanance of good health
• Nutrition for economic performance
• Good stockpersonship
• Maximum use of management techiniqes
• Use of records
• Good marketing practice
Use of good quality and right
type/class of stock
• Use stock known to be of good
quality and of the appropriate
genotype for the commodity to be
• Select a genotype suited to a
given management situation
and/or produces a commodity
suitable for a particular market
BREEDER FARM SEQUENCE
The breeder farm produces fertile
eggs that will be
hatched in a hatchery according to the
• Egg collection
• Incubation and hatching
• Chick sexing
• Chick rearing and marketing
• Male and female chicks are
usually reared separately
until about 4-5 weeks of
• They are then reared so that
they can work out who is
boss (adjust the peck order).
• They are then less likely to
fight with one another later
• The growing period for layer
breeders is from 5 to 20 weeks
of age, about four weeks less
than for meat breeders.
• Feed is restricted to prevent
feed wastage and to improve
• Restricted feeding begins at
about six weeks of age and
continues until birds have
• Usually raised on litter floors
• Transferred to specially
designed breeder sheds, also
with litter floors, when about
• Sheds usually divided into small
sections to minimize fighting.
• Nests placed so that the hens are
attracted to the dark areas of the
nest to lay their eggs.
• Cockerels will mate with a
number of hens (about 10%)
• Cockerels can be fed a
diet than hens and it s a
common practice to have
additional cockerel feeders in a
shed placed at a greater height
than those containing hen feed.
• Fertile eggs are collected after
• Eggs can be cleaned when
collected by wiping with a dry
cloth or steel wool.
• Fumigation by formaldehyde
gas is carried out ASAP after
collection, usually at the farm
or sometimes at the hatchery
Incubation and hatching
• The first 18 days:
– Eggs are placed on special trays which can be
through 90 degrees, from side to side in the
– The temperature and humidity of the air are
controlled so that conditions inside each egg are
suitable for the growth and development of the
• On the 18th day:
– Eggs are transferred to hatchers
• On the 21st day:
– All chicks have hatched
– They are taken to a special room and removed
from the hatcher tray.
– They are then placed in chick boxes ready for
• Layer strain chicks are always
sexed, as the females are kept
while the males are killed.
• Breeders are usually sexed, as
only one sex of each breeder
strain is kept.
• Meat chickens are normally left
unsexed, as both sexes are
usually reared together
Separation of male and females
chicks can be done by:
• Visual examination, (called
vent sexing) either by
checking the structures in the
chick’s vent with the naked
eye or by inspecting the
internal sexual organs with a
• Most breeds can now be sexed
by checking the feather colour
or the degree of growth of
Chick keeping and marketing
• Transported in chick boxes
• Chicks must be kept warm
• Let chicks eat and drink as
soon as possible
• Feed and water available to
them at all times.
LAYER FARM SEQUENCE
• Brooding (day-old to 6
• Growing (6 to 20 weeks)
• Adult layer (20 to/up to 78
• Egg collecting and grading
Brooding (day-old to 6 weeks)
• Chicks need some
additional heat up to six
• Chick starter feed rich
in protein and energy
Growing (6 to 20 weeks)
• Feed contains less protein and
• Beak trimming
• Restriction to feed supply
• Pullets are usually moved into
their laying quarters, at 16-18
weeks of age
Adult layer (20 to/up to 78
• Adult hens are fed
carefully and kept in a
house at 21-28oC
• Hens can need more
nutrients just before and
during their peak
production than at other
times èphase feeding.
Egg collecting and grading
• Most eggs are laid in the
• Collected regularly and
transferred to an egg room to
check for weight and damaged
• Separated based on weight by
an egg grader.
• Packed into cartons for sale