Poultry Your Way - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems ...

MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES
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Poultry Your Way
MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES
INDUSTRIAL: CONFINEMENT
Industrial Management Overview
Birds: Cornish Cross broiler chickens, Broad Breasted White turkeys
Land: Level area for housing with access to acreage for manure and litter disposal
Buildings: Newly constructed, highly specialized barns
Stocking density: 0.8 – 1.0 square feet per broiler to 3 square feet/tom turkey
Equipment: Automated feeders, waterers, ventilation, heating, and lighting
Labor: Full-time or part-time
Operation: Year-round
Finances: Large capital investments, low return on equity, predictable annual income
Advantages: Raise large number of birds on small land base, shared market price risk,
year-round cash flow
Disadvantages: Large capital investments, no marketing flexibility, need for continual
equipment/technology investments, relatively low return on assets,
little or no salvage value for equipment, poor air quality
The industrial management alternative may be a good option if you: enjoy managing “by the book”; seek a more
predictable annual income; prefer to have someone else handle marketing; have access to financing; and live near
integrator facilities.
Birds and Performance. Turkeys and chickens are the two birds most commonly raised in the United States
in volume under confinement conditions. As mentioned, the majority of contract turkey growers are completely
independent from integrators when it comes to breed selection and other flock management decisions. Largescale,
commercial turkey growers almost always use the Broad Breasted White. The Broad Breasted White has
become most favored thanks to its excellent growth rates and light colored (more marketable) meat. Broad
Breasted White hens can be expected to reach 18 to 20 pounds at 15 weeks, while the toms will reach 27 to 29
pounds by the same age (Mercia, 2001).
As a contract broiler or hatching egg producer you won’t have any say when it comes to breed selection.
Integrators, who have invested a great deal of research and development money in bird genetics and breeding
stock, supply day-old broiler chicks and hatching egg pullets, and almost always use the Cornish Cross chicken for
broilers. This breed has been genetically selected for confinement production, rapid growth, and uniform carcass
size. Broilers typically reach their market weight in 49 to 56 days, when they weigh six pounds or more. Feed
efficiency ratios of 1.60 to 1.87 pounds per pound of feed during the grow-out period are typical, according to a
commercial breeding source (Arbor Acres, 2004).
Housing. Contract broiler farms can range in size from 25,000 birds per year to 125,000 birds per year.
Commercial turkey producers, on the other hand, typically raise 45,000 turkeys per year (three flocks of about
15,000 birds each) (Minnesota Turkey Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Turkey Growers
Association, 2004). This housing system is what NCAT poultry specialist Anne Fanatico calls “high density.” Houses
are built to allow one square foot per bird for broilers and a maximum of 3.5 square feet per bird for tom turkeys.
Site location should be your first housing consideration. Ideally, poultry house(s) are located near the farmstead
on a site where there is good soil drainage, air movement, and access to a water supply. These site conditions will
help ensure that your flock is safe, healthy, and productive, and will make your maintenance work easier. It is also
important to consider siting the poultry house to minimize negative impacts on your neighbors.
Specific building designs vary by bird species, stage of production, climate, and by integrator. “Each integrator
will have specific building design, equipment specifications, and location requirements,” note Oklahoma State
University Extension specialists (Doye, et.al., 1996). Plans for industrial housing requirements are available from
USDA, North Dakota State University, and Colorado State University (see Resources under Housing).