Every week, we answer real questions from readers like you, This is another installment in the Dear Chicken Farmer series.
If you’ve got a question about chicken or chicken farming in Canada, send us a note to Dear Chicken Farmer and we’ll do our best to answer it.
Dear Chicken Farmer:
I have several questions about chicken:
- What should we know about chicken?
- Where is chicken produced in Canada?
- Under what conditions are chickens raised?
- How is chicken processed?
- How is chicken transported?
I'll give you some information about chicken. You can find a lot more on our on Fun Farm subsite. Click on the project corner and student information package or click on any of the other sections to find out everything you ever wanted to know about chicken.
1. You need to know that farmers take great care in raising chickens. They are for the most part raised in barns, where they are free to roam (they aren't kept in cages). Their beaks are not trimmed. There are never any hormones or steroids given to chickens, in fact it's illegal. They can eat and drink whenever they want. 88% of chicken feed is grain. The other 12% mainly contains meat, bone or vegetable meal, and vitamins and minerals. Chicken farmers in Canada follow an On-Farm Food Safety Program that ensures that they produce a high quality, safe product for consumers to enjoy.
2. Chickens are raised in every province in Canada. This means that the fresh chicken you buy at your grocery store was more than likely raised fairly close to where you live.
3. Chickens need room to roam, they need heat or cool air depending on the temperature outside, they need light, clean food and water.
4. A lot of chicken is sold as fresh cut up chicken (drumsticks, ground chicken, breasts, thighs, etc.). There are also a lot of frozen or packaged meals that contain chicken (chicken nuggets), chicken hot dogs, chicken bacon and chicken cold cuts.
5. Chickens are taken from the farm to what we call a processing plant by truck. The processing plant creates the products that you see on your grocery shelf. Processors must follow strict guidelines as set out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Check back next week for more questions and answers, or take a look at past questions.
