Poultry Hatcheries

This is a small industry, with approximately 1,000 establishments operating primarily as poultry hatcheries in the United States. This number fell from the late 1990s due in part to massive vertically integrated operations that produce chickens in great quantities and raise them from hatchery to slaughterhouse. As this industry is highly automated, most operations have a small staff. Over three-fourths of all poultry hatcheries employ fewer than five workers. The remainder of the establishments maintain staffs of various sizes.

In 2009, U.S. hatcheries produced 9.12 billion broiler-type chicks, down 4 percent from 2008. However, egg-type chicks hatched during this period increased to 468 million, up slightly from 2008. Turkey poults (very young turkeys) hatched during 2009 dropped 8 percent to 282 million hatched. Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas, respectively, produced the most broiler-type chicks in 2009; Indiana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania led with the most egg-type chicks hatched. There were 317 chicken hatcheries in 2010, down from 319 in 2009, with a total incubator capacity of 898.2 million, down from 903.8 million 2008. More than one-half of the incubator capacity was located in South Central United States and another one-third of the capacity was located in the Atlantic Central region. Turkey hatcheries numbered 51 in 2010, down from 53 in 2009, with incubator capacity of 38.3 million, down from 39.3 million in 2008. The combined value of production from chicken broilers, eggs, turkeys, and sales of chickens in 2009 produced a combined value of $31.6 billion. Of the total, broilers accounted for 69 percent, eggs for 19 percent, turkeys for 11 percent, and sales of chickens for less than 1 percent.

A few companies controlled the majority of the hatchery market in the early 2010s. These were mainly giant, vertically integrated operations that had multiple interests in the poultry business. Many hatcheries were family-run operations, with a majority making between $100,000 and $250,000 in annual revenues. Many of these smaller businesses produced chicks on a contract basis for the large poultry companies.

Founded in 1916, Cobb-Vantress, Inc, headquartered in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, is the country's oldest poultry breeding company. In 2010 the company was a global leader in broiler breeding, employing over 1,700. Cobb-Vantress is owned by poultry giant Tyson Foods, Inc., purchased in 1994. The largest poultry producer by revenue, Tyson is a vertically integrated operation with $26.9 billion in sales in 2007. Tyson, based in Springdale, Arkansas, employs 120,000 people across the United States and Mexico and operates 54 hatcheries.

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. of Pittsburg, Texas, became the nation's largest chicken company with its December 2006 purchase in of Gold Kist, another leading chicken producer. In 2009, the company reported total revenues of $7.1 billion and employed 41,000 people.

Another industry leader is the private company Perdue Inc., based in Salisbury, Maryland, with $4.6 billion in sales in 2009, making it the third largest poultry company in the United States. Foster Farms, a California-based company, generated $2.0 billion in revenues annually through its highly diverse operations that includes hatcheries.