Poultry

Fortunately, socially responsible farmers continue to raise poultry without the harmful impacts of industrial operations. Learn more on our Reclaiming Agriculture: Poultry page.

Featured

Food Animal Transport: A potential source of community exposures to health hazards from industrial farming (CAFOs)

Published by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, this article describes a study of air and surface samples collected from vehicles traveling behind trucks carrying broiler chickens in crates from factory farms to slaughterhouses. Researchers found that these samples contained an increased number of total aerobic bacteria including both susceptible and antibiotic-resistant enterococci. The study suggests that food animal transport in open crates can expose humans to harmful microorganisms and may disseminate these pathogens into the general environment. (Journal of Infection and Public Health. August 2008.)

Avian Influenza Information

Prepared by experts at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, this site is an outstanding source of information about avian flu, pandemic preparedness, and the latest news and research about these topics.

Avian Flu Fact Sheet

Created by The Beyond Factory Farming Coalition, this fact sheet describes how the spread of Avian Flu can be prevented by focusing on intensive poultry operations rather than backyard flocks (which are erroneously assumed to be the prevalent flu vector). Use it as a basis for a letter to the editor, send it to reporters, or distribute it at local events.

General Resources

Production Statistics for Poultry in the US

US poultry production statistics from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Select “Poultry” in Step 1, select a subgroup in Step 2, and click “search.”

Building a Greenhouse-Style Pasture Broiler Pen

Instructions, including blueprints, for building your own pasture pen. From Chris Bailey, The Morris Farm, Maine. (Posted July 7, 2002.)

The Chicken: Its Biological, Social, Cultural, and Industrial History from Neolithic Middens to McNuggets

This three-day conference brought together over 75 scholars, agronomists, public intellectuals, chicken growers, workers, industry representatives and activists from the labor, farm, animal welfare, environmental, and public health movements, whose work has helped to define and to change what we know about chickens and their production and consumption. (Yale University, May 17-19, 2002.)

Chickens, Manure and Arsenic

Chicken farmers on the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula release 20 to 50 metric tons of arsenic into the environment annually; researchers are uncertain where this arsenic ends up. (Environmental Science and Technology, March 22, 2001.)

Free Range Poultry

Detailed information about three popular methods of grass-based poultry production.

Forced Molting of Laying Birds

Text of a petition to the USDA and FDA from United Poultry Concerns and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. (April 1998.)

Help the Chicken Out!

The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) produced this website to help get chickens out of battery cages. The catchy site asks consumers to “put the chicken before the egg,” and provides simple, practical information about what consumers can do to help end the suffering of hens in cages. (Vancouver Humane Society.)

In the Turkey Breeding Factory

Account of working in a Butterball Turkey company plant. (United Poultry Concern.)

Poultry Breeds

Alphabetical, illustrated encyclopedia of dozens of poultry breeds. Learn about the many breeds raised by farmers before factory farms. (Oklahoma State University.)

Poultry Information Network

News briefs, searchable archive of industry publications, production statistics, index of suppliers and producers. (Free Registration and survey required for site access.)

Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit

USDA program at the University of Arkansas. Conducts research on poultry production, health, and waste management.

Poultry Waste – Statistics for States

Poultry waste – volume, weight, nutrient content. Includes statistics for the last 10 years for each state. (Environmental Defense Fund, 1997.)

What About Chicken?

Find out how foul eating factory fowl can be. (EarthSave.)

Groups

International Egg Commission

A producer’s group interested in issues such as animal welfare, environment, trade, quality standardization of shell egg and egg products, food safety, cholesterol, salmonella enteriditis, nutrition, and more. Site offers primarily economic data.

Reports

Dirty Birds

Consumer Reports tested chicken from grocery stores in 2007 and found that a staggering 83% were contaminated with Salmonella or Campylobacter. Also read their 1998 report: Consumer Reports: 71 Percent of Chicken Contains Harmful Bacteria.

The Dioxin Crisis as Experiment to Determine Poultry-Related Camylobacter Enteristis

In June 1999, the dioxin crisis, caused by dioxin-contaminated feed components, exploded in Belgium, caused chicken and eggs to be recalled from the market. This study uses the outbreak to analyze the nature of infections and disease.

Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Campylobacter Isolates from Conventional and Antibiotic-Free Chicken Products

The presence of drug-resistant, pathogenic bacteria on uncooked poultry products varies by commercial brand and is likely related to antibiotic use in production, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their study is the first to directly compare bacterial contamination of poultry products sold in US supermarkets from food producers who use antibiotics to poultry products from producers who claim they do not. (Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2005.)

Poultry Waste

This collection of resources assesses the quantity, composition, nutrient quality and application of poultry waste. It’s designed to provide the information needed to assist individuals in the development of nutrient management plans for poultry operators. (University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Extension Poultry Science.)

Risk Assessment on the Human Health Impact of Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Campylobacter Associated with the Consumption of Chicken

The Center for Veterinary Medicine requested this assessment of fluoroquinolone resistance in Campylobacter found in poultry. (FDA, October 2000, revised January 2001.)