![[chicken]](images/chicken.gif) Chickens
WHAT ARE CHICKENS?
Chickens are domesticated fowl raised for their meat or eggs. A
male chicken is called a rooster and a female chicken is called a
hen. Young chickens are called chicks. Chickens are specialized into
meat chickens and egg layers. This section discusses meat chickens.
WHERE ARE CHICKENS PRODUCED IN BC?
Over 80% of the production of chickens is located in the Fraser
Valley while 10% is produced on Vancouver Island and 9% in the
Interior
HOW MANY CHICKENS DO WE PRODUCE?
BC has over 302 commercial chicken producers. They produce over
72 million chickens weighing a total of 100 million kilograms (after
evisceration) with a farm gate value of $179 million and a retail
value of $317 million. If all the chickens produced in 1 year in BC
were standing in a line they would form a line more than 12,500
miles long. There are 66 producers who specialize in breeding hens
which lay eggs to be hatched into broiler chicks. They produce about
90 million hatching eggs. Another 9 million eggs to be hatched were
imported. Hatcheries in the province incubate, or set, these eggs
until they hatch out.
HOW ARE CHICKENS PRODUCED?
Broiler hatching egg producers produce broiler hatching eggs
which are sent to hatcheries that hatch out chicks. The eggs hatch
after 21 days of incubation. The hatching eggs and/or chicks are
vaccinated for disease protection, sometimes sorted into sexes, and
shipped in temperature-controlled trucks to the production farms.
They are placed on litter and grown out to 2.2kg live weight in 39
to 42 days. During the first few weeks of growth they are kept under
brooders, devices that are used to keep the chicks warm. The
temperature is lowered each week until the birds are adequately
feathered to maintain their own body heat. These birds consume
approximately 1.85kg of feed per kg of body weight produced over the
42 day period.
WHAT DO CHICKENS LOOK LIKE WHEN I USE THEM?
Chicken meat is sold as fresh and frozen whole birds or cut up
into breasts, halves, and drumsticks. Chicken can be fried, roasted
or broiled. It is sold in nugget form and made into further
processed products. It is included in soups and stews.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CHICKENS LEAVE THE FARM?
The chickens are loaded into cages on a truck and taken to the
processing plant. At the processing plant they are placed on
shackles which move through the plant. The birds are electrically
stunned prior to slaughter to minimize suffering. The feathers and
internal viscera are removed and the birds are inspected to ensure
that they are healthy and safe for human consumption. The inspection
is carried out by qualified federal inspection staff.
WHAT CHALLENGES DO CHICKEN PRODUCERS FACE?
BC chicken producers have been faced with declining prices and
competition from product coming in from eastern Canada. They have
applied sophisticated computer technology to control the environment
in the barns and to assist them to manage their operations so as to
maximize production efficiency. Rapid growth in market demand has
required that they make major investments in new buildings and
equipments.
WHO'S INVOLVED IN PRODUCING CHICKENS?
- Broiler breeder producers
- Hatcheries
- Veterinarians
- Chicken producers
- Equipment suppliers
- Trucking companies
- Processors
- Government inspectors
- Restaurants, hotels, institutions, retailers, fast food
outlets
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Feed company nutritionists and fieldmen
- Government extension and provincial health veterinarians
- BC Avian Monitoring Laboratory
Interesting Fact About Chickens:
Chickens are highly efficient in converting feed to weight
gain. A chicken will use as little as 1.67kg of feed per kg of
body weight gain.
Chickens do not chew their food. The food is moistened in the
throat, and ground up in an organ just before the stomach called
the gizzard. If a chicken is on the range, it will eat grit, hard
particles like small stones. These particles are what the food
grinds against in the gizzard.
Contacts and other resources:
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