1. Chicken
Composition of Chicken
Water 75%
Protein 20%
Fat 5%

2. Receiving Chicken Feel- if slimy do not accept
Smell- reject strong odors
Temperature- has to be under 40

3. Conformation Size, Shape, Yield
Finish- check for proper amount of skin
Quality conditions
No blood clots
No bruises
No broken bones
No pin feathers, or missing parts

4. Federal Grades A-B-C-Utility Shape of carcass Amount of fat and flesh
Pin feathers, tears, bruises
Not stamped on like beef, printed on tags

5. Free Range
Chickens are raised with freedom to move around and eat outdoors
Some feel the quality is worth the extra cost
No legal definition of “Free Range”

6. 5 Classes of Chicken
Cornish Hen
1 lb
6 weeks
Youngest
Dry cooked

7. 5 Classes of Chicken Fryer 2 ¼ to 2 ½ lbs 8 weeks old Dry cooking
Frying

8. 5 Classes of Chicken
Broiler
3 ½ lbs
8-10 weeks old
Dry cooking

9. 5 Classes of Chicken Roaster 3 ½ to 4 lbs 3 to 8 months
Capon is a roaster
$$$ Expensive
More white meat, higher yield

10. 5 Classes of Chicken Stewer 4-6 lbs Older than 10 months Moist cook
Rooster (male)
Hen or Fowl (female)

11. Packaging Ice pack Advantages Disadvantages Easy to open
Easy to check quality
Disadvantages
Messy
Hard to check weight

12. MAP Advantages Disadvantages Easy to weigh Less space Dry
Can not check quality
Smell, touch

13. IQF Individual Quick Frozen Advantages Disadvantages Inventory $$$
Frozen quality

14. Light –vs- Dark Light meat (breast and wings) Dark meat (legs)
Less fat
Less connective tissue
Cooks faster
Dark meat (legs)
More fat
More connective tissue
Longer to cook

15. FIRST COMES THE EGG Everything starts with a broiler hatching egg.
Meat chickens are specially bred to be meaty birds and they're quite different from the chickens who lay the eggs we buy at the store.

16. Laying the Eggs
Broiler breeding hens lay fertilized eggs (about in a year) at breeder farms.
Within 6-12 hours of hatching, the chicks are put into heated trucks and taken to the chicken farms.

17. Barns
Meat chickens are raised in large, specially designed barns. These barns are heated and ventilated to provide the proper temperature, humidity and air circulation.

18. Free Range
They roam freely around the entire barn floor which is covered with soft, dry straw.

19. Sanitation
After each flock, the barn and equipment are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

20. Feeding Chickens
Chicken feed is specially made to meet all of the nutritional needs of a chicken. The main ingredient in chicken food is grain, usually a blend of wheat, corn and barley, so all chickens are "grain fed".

21. Drugs?
No hormones are used in the raising of chickens.

22. Check-up
Most chickens are ready to be marketed when they are 37 to 39 days old and weigh just under 3 lbs. They are shipped to the processing companies in trucks designed for carrying poultry. At the processing company, every chicken is checked by an inspector.

23. Useless Knowledge
How fast can a chicken run?
9 miles per hour

24. Useless Knowledge What is the record for laying the most eggs
7 in one day

25. Useless Knowledge
There are approximately ________ chickens in the United States.
450 million

26. Useless Knowledge
The term 'Chicken Pox' didn't come from people believing that they came from chickens, it came from the Old English term 'gican pox' - which means the itching pox.

27. Useless knowledge
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is how long?
13 seconds, 301 1/2 feet