Tyson Chicken Houses: How Many Chickens Live There?

Tyson Foods is one of the largest chicken producers in the United States, slaughtering 37-38.3 million chickens per week in 50 facilities. The company does not own its chicken houses but contracts them out to local farmers, who are often left with large amounts of debt. Tyson supplies the birds, feed, and technical advice, while the poultry producer provides the labour, housing, and utilities. The number of chickens in a Tyson chicken house can vary, with barns filled with hundreds to thousands of chickens.

Tyson Foods slaughters 38.3 million chickens weekly

Tyson Foods is a leading supporter of U.S. poultry farmers and one of the largest meat producers in the world. The company slaughters approximately 38.3 million chickens per week through fifty facilities, which means the daily total of birds killed each day equates to around 5.3 million. These numbers mean that Tyson Foods has, on average, killed – and continues to kill – millions of chickens.

Chickens dominate the count, both for Tyson and the food system as a whole. Out of the 9 billion land animals killed for food in the U.S. each year, around 88% of them are chickens. To keep up with the pace, workers must raise, slaughter, and process animals rapidly. This means that animals must be bred in large quantities, fattened quickly, and slaughtered in a constant cycle. The pace, scale, and pressure can easily lead to neglect and outright abuse, as has been documented. An undercover investigation produced by Animal Outlook, formerly Compassion Over Killing, revealed cruelty throughout the supply chain of a Tyson supplier in Virginia. The findings were disturbing, as chicks were bludgeoned, thrown, kicked, run over by machinery, and impaled by a metal spike.

Tyson Foods has an incentive-based pay system to keep the price of nutritious chicken affordable for millions of families and the foodservice industry. Traditionally, companies like Tyson provide incentives to farmers to deliver safer, healthier, and better-quality chickens. While every farmer gets paid a base rate, farmers who deliver birds above the average standard can receive a bonus based on a points system. Tyson Foods pays more for better performance – a concept shared across many industries.

Tyson Foods also provides the birds and feed, as well as technical expertise, while the poultry farmer provides the labor, housing, and utilities to support the birds. This benefits the farmers because it insulates them from the risk of changing market prices for chicken and feed ingredients such as corn and soybean meal, which represent most of the cost of raising a chicken. However, farmers who raise chickens for Tyson Foods are often stuck with mountains of debt. Growers said Tyson continued to ask for upgrades and investments or they would lose their contracts. Former Tyson growers said the company promised they would get enough chickens to pay off loans. These growers were offered contract buyouts but stated it would not be enough to cover all of their debt.

Farmers who raise Tyson chickens often have large debts

Tyson Foods, the nation's largest chicken producer, has been closing processing plants and cancelling contracts with chicken growers, sometimes putting chicken farmers out of business. In 2023, Tyson closed eight meatpacking plants, six of which were chicken processing plants.

Tyson Foods has been working with poultry farmers on a contractual basis since the late 1940s. The company supplies the birds and feed, as well as technical expertise, while the poultry farmer provides the labour, housing, and utilities to support the birds. However, farmers who raise chickens for Tyson Foods often have large amounts of debt. This is due to the high costs of building or purchasing chicken barns to grow chickens under contract for Tyson, which can cost upwards of $2 million in loans.

The cost of raising chickens increased by 35% from 2012 to 2022, and the amount of debt held by poultry growers in Arkansas and Missouri, where Tyson closed four plants in 2023, has skyrocketed. From 2003 to 2022, Arkansas poultry grower debt tripled, while in Missouri, the figure increased six-fold. Many growers have multiple barns, as the USDA estimates that it costs roughly $400,000 to build a new chicken barn.

Additionally, Tyson has been accused of pushing growers to go into more debt to upgrade their barns to meet company demands. Growers have stated that the company promised them they would get enough chickens to raise for as long as they had loans on their barns. However, after Tyson abruptly ended contracts, growers were left unable to pay off their debt, facing bankruptcy and foreclosure.

The barns Tyson chicken growers have are built with the company in mind, making transitioning to other poultry growing complicated and expensive. This has left growers struggling to find new companies to contract with and unable to sell the equipment and barns they own.

Tyson provides farmers with veterinary support and technical assistance

Tyson Foods is one of the leading supporters of U.S. poultry farmers. The company has been working with poultry farmers on a contractual basis since the late 1940s. Tyson Foods depends on its network of small and independent farmers to supply its plants, and it only succeeds when its farmers succeed.

Tyson Foods provides farmers with state-of-the-art veterinary support and technical assistance. The company supplies the birds, feed, and technical advice, while the poultry producer provides the labour, housing, and utilities. Tyson Foods also provides producers with information on sound environmental practices, optimal lighting and ventilation for chicken, and disease control. The company's technical advisors typically visit farms on a weekly basis.

Tyson Foods' technical assistance includes regular visits from service technicians who provide support and technical expertise. The company also requires farmers to meet a set of housing specifications outlined in the contracts. These specifications include modern housing that provides a more comfortable living environment for the birds, with improved ventilation and more uniform temperatures through the barn.

In addition to technical assistance, Tyson Foods offers financial incentives to farmers to deliver safer, healthier, and better-quality chickens. While every farmer gets paid a base rate, farmers who deliver birds above the average standard can receive a bonus based on a points system. This incentive-based pay system helps keep nutritious chicken affordable for millions of American families and the foodservice industry.

Tyson Foods also prioritizes animal health and welfare in its supply chain. The company relies on veterinarians, service technicians, and animal welfare specialists to ensure optimal animal husbandry, management, nutrition, sanitation, and housing practices. Tyson Foods conducts daily observations to monitor animals for any signs of illness or injury and requires its suppliers to maintain a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR). The company also has trained flock advisors who act as liaisons between the farmer and Tyson Foods, providing technical help and support and conducting welfare audits.

Tyson chicken houses are built with the company in mind

Tyson Foods is one of the leading supporters of U.S. poultry farmers, with about 6,000 contract farmers raising chickens for the company. While Tyson Foods does not own its chicken houses, it contracts them out to local farmers. The company supplies the birds, feed, and technical advice, while the poultry producer provides the labor, housing, and utilities. This arrangement benefits the farmers by insulating them from the risk of changing market prices for chicken and feed ingredients.

Tyson Foods has specific requirements for its chicken houses, which are outlined in the contracts with farmers. These specifications include improvements, maintenance, and repairs to address animal welfare issues, as well as optimal lighting and ventilation for the chickens. The company also provides state-of-the-art veterinary support and scientifically formulated feed to ensure the health and well-being of the birds.

The chicken houses are designed to keep the birds as comfortable as possible, with thermostatically controlled heaters in the winter and improved ventilation and uniform temperatures in the barn. This modern housing technology saves energy costs for the farmer while providing a more comfortable living environment for the birds.

However, the company has been criticised for requiring growers to upgrade their barns and equipment to get more birds, resulting in farmers taking on significant debt. The barns are built with Tyson's requirements in mind, making it complicated and expensive to transition to another poultry company. This has left some former Tyson growers with substantial debt when the company closed processing plants and cancelled contracts.

Tyson Foods is the largest US chicken processor

Tyson Foods operates 140 chicken facilities, including 35 slaughter plants and 16 further-processing plants. The company has 37 hatcheries, compared to Pilgrim's Pride with 32, Perdue with 15, Sanderson Farms with 11, and Wayne Farms with 10.

Tyson Foods began as a chicken business nearly 90 years ago and has evolved into a modern, protein-focused food company. The company processes about 20% of all beef, pork, and chicken in the US. Tyson Foods supports US poultry farmers by providing birds and feed, as well as technical expertise, while farmers provide labour, housing, and utilities.

To ensure the quality of their chicken, Tyson Foods requires farmers to meet specific housing specifications outlined in their contracts. These specifications include modern housing standards that provide a more comfortable living environment for the birds, improved ventilation, and more uniform temperatures.

Tyson Foods pays close to $820 million annually to over 3,600 poultry farmers who contract with them. The company uses an incentive-based payment system, where farmers who deliver birds above the average standard can receive bonuses based on a points system. This helps keep nutritious chicken affordable for American families and the foodservice industry.

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