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Abstract
Excerpts: The Poultry 2010 study was administered to the Nation’s largest broiler, turkey, table-egg layer, and breeder companies, which accounted for over 70 percent of the respective industries. Estimates generated from this study reflect the practices of these large companies only. Turkey-breeder companies were not included in the study. Broiler farms accounted for nearly two-thirds of farms (65.6 percent). Table-egg production farms accounted for less than 3 percent of farms. Turkey farms accounted for 16.7 percent of farms, and breeder farms accounted for 15.4 percent of farms. Broiler companies had a median of over 400 farms, whereas table-egg companies had a median of fewer than 10 farms. Nearly all breeder farms and three-fourths of turkey farms had fewer than 50,000 birds at maximum capacity. The majority of broiler farms had 50,000 to 99,999 birds at maximum capacity, and the majority of table-egg farms had 100,000 or more birds.