QuackerzzMB
Chirping
- Jan 30, 2017
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Can you guess how many people in the USA and Canada raise chickens as a hobby? I’m wanting to possibly start a business I would just like to figure out a approximate.
Can you guess how many people...
- Thread starter QuackerzzMB
- Start date
Have you googled for the answer?
There are currently 410,987 members at this site, most of whom reside in the US or Canada. (from BYC Home page).
The current number of chicken keepers (those responsible for their flock) is rapidly growing and probably numbers a few million that may comprise between 0.5-1 percent of the US and Canadian adult population which is around 209 million (US) + 29 million (Canada).
The google search above does not yield any exact number, likely because "Do you have chickens?" is not a Census question.
A bit of history:
In general, backyard and small farm chickens, all belonging to heritage breeds or mixes, were kept by large numbers of people from the 1880s, rising through the 1920s and into the Great Depression and World War II. People favored Brahmas, Cochins, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, and other heavy breeds for meat while Leghorns and several breeds similar to today's backyard egg layers were raised for eggs. During these years, rural electrification had not yet occurred all over the US. Therefore, some chicken keepers raised their flocks using broody hens rather than incubators. During those years, poultry shows and exhibition were very popular.
This provides some of the history prior to 1973 and states that starting in the 1950s, the number of backyard flocks decreased.
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/History_of_Chickens_in_the_U.S.
From the 1950s-1990s, fewer people kept backyard flocks. This coincides with the rise of Cornish Cross as the key industrial meat chicken. There were also outbreaks of Newcastle disease during those years.
From the late 1990s, rising into the 2000s, especially during and after the 2008 Recession, and rising once again now during COVID, more and more people have backyard flocks.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...ome..69i57.13188j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Membership in the APA is only a small percentage of chicken keepers, and I haven't been able to find their membership stats. There are some interesting historic details at this site, including discussion of famous poultry artists.
http://apahistory.com/
The current number of chicken keepers (those responsible for their flock) is rapidly growing and probably numbers a few million that may comprise between 0.5-1 percent of the US and Canadian adult population which is around 209 million (US) + 29 million (Canada).
The google search above does not yield any exact number, likely because "Do you have chickens?" is not a Census question.
A bit of history:
In general, backyard and small farm chickens, all belonging to heritage breeds or mixes, were kept by large numbers of people from the 1880s, rising through the 1920s and into the Great Depression and World War II. People favored Brahmas, Cochins, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, and other heavy breeds for meat while Leghorns and several breeds similar to today's backyard egg layers were raised for eggs. During these years, rural electrification had not yet occurred all over the US. Therefore, some chicken keepers raised their flocks using broody hens rather than incubators. During those years, poultry shows and exhibition were very popular.
This provides some of the history prior to 1973 and states that starting in the 1950s, the number of backyard flocks decreased.
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/History_of_Chickens_in_the_U.S.
From the 1950s-1990s, fewer people kept backyard flocks. This coincides with the rise of Cornish Cross as the key industrial meat chicken. There were also outbreaks of Newcastle disease during those years.
From the late 1990s, rising into the 2000s, especially during and after the 2008 Recession, and rising once again now during COVID, more and more people have backyard flocks.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...ome..69i57.13188j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Membership in the APA is only a small percentage of chicken keepers, and I haven't been able to find their membership stats. There are some interesting historic details at this site, including discussion of famous poultry artists.
http://apahistory.com/
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