Profitable and Sustainable Poultry Production on Small- and Medium-Sized Farms

This integrated project falls under the Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities program area, specifically, the Small and Medium-Sized Farms priority. The multidisciplinary project is a collaboration between the University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University and includes research in the areas of poultry production, insect identification, food quality, marketing and economics. The overall objective of the project is to use animal husbandry and marketing research components to develop a model that can be used to make economic and agribusiness management projections regarding alternative poultry production on small- and medium-sized farms. The model can be used to evaluate the economic viability of poultry production as a new or expanded activity on the farm. It can also be used to complete a cost-benefit analysis of changes in the cost of production or the price that can be received for the chicken meat or eggs produced. There has been an increased interest in using heritage poultry breeds. Heritage breeds are typically dual-purpose breeds being suitable for either meat or egg production. Heritage breeds also provide characteristics that make them more suitable for alternative management systems. The project will compare the performance and economic viability of heritage breeds and commerical strains of chickens for meat and egg production in a pasture-based system.