Backyard Chicken Statistics That Will Surprise You

The lockdowns that started in 2020 have caused an explosion in families raising backyard chickens.

Official statistics of Americans who raise backyard chickens are not available, but a study by the USDA in 2013 predicts that 13 million people, or 5% of Americans, will rear chickens in the backyard by 2019.

People are not just raising more chickens for scrambled eggs and pets. The consumption of chicken meat and eggs is increasing year over year and shows no signs of slowing down. This makes the US Poultry Industry worth $40.4 billion per year.

The reasons for this are many. Egg consumption has risen over 16% in the United States over the last 20 years.

Raising hens for eggs provides food security should the grocery store shelves go empty again. Some want to raise hens for eggs others want chickens for meat.

Raising a backyard flock is a great hobby when you are cooped up at home all day every day with nothing to do.  They teach young children where their food comes from and provide hours of family entertainment. 

Depending on the breed of chickens you raise you can expect 200-300 eggs per hen each year.

Let’s dive into some of the more surprising research on backyard chicken statistics and general chicken statistics.

How Many Backyard Chickens Are There In the US?

American Pet Producers Association survey states that in 2018 roughly 10 million or 3% of U.S. households raised chickens. 6% of the households were without smaller kids compared to 12% of households with smaller kids that had backyard chickens.

The number of households raising chickens in the U.S. continues to grow year after year according to the USDA. It was the USDA who in 2013 predicted that there would be 13 million households raising chickens by 2019.

With backyard chicken statistics like these, it’s clear the having a backyard flock is becoming more popular each year.

Backyard Chicken Statistics Explored

Backyard chicken keeping has primarily increased due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but there are other reasons as well. There is a growing desire to become more self-sufficient and to be aware of where their food comes from.

According to a research study, 93% of the 150 most populated U.S. cities allow people to backyard chickens in some capacity. How many chickens you can have depended on local city ordinances

A survey by the Heritage Acres Market found the following.

• 58% of flocks have or plan to have a rooster
• Pooping in nest boxes is the most common chicken issue
• Fresh eggs are the main reason people raise backyard chickens
• Almost 80% of chicken coops have no heating during the winter
• The most popular breed is the Easter Egger amount backyard chicken keepers
• Hawks are the most common predator for backyard flock owners
• Backyard chicken keepers favorite egg color is blue

Which States have the Most Chickens?

According to Statistica Iowa has the most chickens with 72.58 million, Indiana has 44 Million and Ohio has 43 million chickens.

The Poultry Industry employs over 374,000 people across the United States. The poultry industry generates over 1,440,000 additional jobs in ancillary and supplier industries according to the US Poultry & Egg Association.

There are more than 233,770 poultry farms in the United States according to the last “Census of Agriculture” report from 2014.

How many eggs does the U.S. produce each year?

According to the USDA, the United States produces over 113 Billion eggs each year. The top producing egg states are Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio.

Which state ranks first in egg production?

Iowa ranks first in egg production with 15% followed by Indiana and Ohio at 9% each. The top 5 states are home to 46% of all laying hens in the United States according to the United Egg Producers.

In 2019 nearly 24% of hens were in cage-free egg production an increase of 20% since 2010.

In 2020 there were 257.1 Million conventional laying hens (caged) at 76.4%, 19.4 million hens that were cage-free and organically fed at 5.8%, and  60 million (17.8%) cage-free non-organic fed hens in the United States.

The table below states the year egg production figures.

Which States Produce The Most Chickens?

Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas produce the most broiler chickens that are raised for meat consumption according to the national chicken council. 

Georgia produces the most broiler chickens of any state at 1.36 billion per year.

Over 25,000 farms produce these broiler chickens each year. Feeding these chickens takes a lot of corn. The National Chicken council states that more than 1.2 billion bushels of corn are used for broiler and breeder feed each year. 

Over 500 million bushels of soybeans are used in the meal component of chicken feed each year.

The largest meat production broiler chicken industry in the world is run by US Farmers. They export 17 percent of broiler exports to other countries.

Over 25 million broiler chickens are killed each day in the US for chicken consumption. That is over 9 Billion chickens eaten each year.

The World is Eating More Chicken.

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook Report states that the consumption of poultry meat is projected to increase globally to 145 Million tons into the year 2029, Poultry is expected to be 50% of the meat consumed during this time throughout the world.

Robust growth rates will be because of consumption increases in China and India. Additionally, other Asian countries are starting to consume less pork and eat more chicken.

What Country Eats The Most Chicken?

According to industry statistics from the OECD, the United States is the second-largest consumer of poultry meat at 51.0 kg/per capita and the country of Israel is the largest per capita at 64.4kg

How Many Chickens Are In The World?

According to Statistica there are over 23.7 billion chickens in the world at any given time. The country with the most chickens is mainland China with over 5.27 Billion Chickens.

The United States had the 3rd most overall with 504.5 million chickens. 65 billion chickens are consumed by the world each year.

Biosecurity In Chickens

It doesn’t matter if your raising chickens in your backyard or consuming them at restaurants. Health safety is paramount where your raising backyard chickens or on a commercial chicken farm.

Proper procedures must people followed to keep flocks and humans healthy.

The CDC estimates 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths are caused each year by Salmonella bacteria.

Over 1.2 million chickens died or were euthanized in California due to Newcastle’s disease from March 2018 to February 2020. Often the chickens show no signs of the disease before dying and there is no cure once chickens contract the deadly illness.

The disease is believed to have spread from hens owned by backyard chicken owners into commercial flocks where the disease continued to spread.

This is why biosecurity is so important to prevent the spread of disease-causing organisms in chickens.

Conclusion

Whether you are raising chickens as a hobby for eggs or consuming them for meat they are an intricate part of our daily lives and will continue to do so for centuries to come.