When is National Poultry Day?

March 19 is annual National Poultry Day. On this day, we honor this age-old practice of animal husbandry that makes tasty turkeys, bucketloads of chicken, and all kinds of eggs, a staple on tables globally.

If you enjoy everything about poultry and are searching for a reason to let loose and have fun, watch out for National Poultry Day. Meanwhile, we’ll share the history and ideas to celebrate this great day.

How Many Poultry Farms are in the US?

Most published statistics on poultry production emphasize products rather than live poultry, which reflects the interests of the poultry industry. With a 17% share of worldwide poultry production, the United States leads China and Brazil in production. Americans frequently consume more poultry than any other nation.

The USDA releases a Census of Agriculture every five years, and while the 2022 report is not yet out for publication until 2024, the 2015 study revealed that 233,770 farms market eggs and poultry in the US. Even though most of these farms are small to medium scale, larger farms produce most poultry products. 

The government approves roughly 30 large-scale poultry production firms. These poultry firms have contracts with about 25,000 farms that raise, treat, and market poultry. Ninety-five percent or more of US poultry comes from these farms. These figures do not include facilities that are subject to government inspection.

What the Cluck is the Day About?

On National Fowl Day, we recognize the culinary importance of chicken and other poultry and their lesser-known role as household pets. Whether they are regular laying hens or exotic heritage breeds that may cost up to $399 for a single day-old chick and are as colorful as tropical fish. Chickens make excellent pets.

Some claim that chickens are better at catching mice than cats and will also keep insects out of your vegetable garden and fertilize it.

Its main goal is to acknowledge the worth of domestic poultry grown for commercial purposes and the advantages of this practice, such as eggs, meat, and feathers.

National Poultry Day is an annual observance with major activities, particularly in Ohio, which draws large crowds of tourists from all over the country. People from other parts of the world fly to Ohio to celebrate and participate in this thrilling national poultry event. The widespread public interest in National Poultry Day festivities has proven to be a profitable opportunity for locals.

Ideas to Celebrate National Poultry Day

Ideas for Individuals

You can observe National Poultry Day in many different ways. You might get ideas from popular customs or devise rituals to practice with your family and friends yearly. You can use the suggestions in the list below to celebrate the significance of poultry in your own life on this day:

Eat Chicken 

On National Poultry Day, what could be more appropriate than to serve your favorite poultry recipes with your meals? There are countless dishes you can prepare. For example, you can eat fried chicken for lunch and dinner and a pan of omelets to start your morning. Or you may choose from dozens of additional recipes that use poultry!

Make Up Your Own Recipes for Poultry 

Why not dedicate the day to creating a brand-new dish in your kitchen, specifically in honor of National Poultry Day? By its very nature, poultry has a variety of cooking choices. You can try out new concepts or combine your favorite dishes to create something original.

Invite Your Buddies to a Dinner Party

The best way to celebrate National Poultry Day is by inviting a few friends over to dinner. Of course, don’t forget to serve them their preferred poultry meals on your table. Also, you have a reason to get together with them and eat some delectable food.

Try a Different Type of Poultry

On National Poultry Day, the majority of individuals routinely eat chicken. However, you might not usually consume turkey or duck. You may use this to broaden your palate and explore different flavors. Try out turkey, duck, goose, etc.

Visit an Event Honoring National Poultry Day 

Every year, Ohio hosts a number of festivals; among them is National Poultry Day. Other states across the country also hold food festivals where you may play games and sample different foods. It’s all about your favorite foods, which will undoubtedly be enjoyable. On March 19, gather your family and friends and head to the nearby National Poultry Day event.

Ideas for Business

National Poultry Day is a prime commercial opportunity. You must be at the top of your game to take advantage of this day to sell your poultry products. Here are a few suggestions you can use to boost sales and honor poultry if it is the foundation of your company. 

Get Involved

Participating in the local National Poultry Day celebration will help you reach a wider audience of customers and establish your reputation and authority in the community. It’s a fantastic chance for marketing and expanding your clientele.

Create a Promotion

An in-store promotion can draw more customers your way. For example, discounting poultry products can be a great way to acknowledge National Poultry Day. People who hear about this promotion will come to buy their poultry products. You might win over many devoted clients with a single day’s work.

Give Out Educational Flyers

You can create educational flyers about National Poultry Day to distribute to your consumers. You might see an uptick in sales if you encourage them to enjoy this lovely day and appreciate poultry. You can even print recipes on the flyers!

Give Your Customers Poultry Bitings 

To give customers a taste of your poultry products, you can set up a stall in front of your store and sell cooked fowl. People will soon follow the aroma to your store and join the celebration.

The History of the Observance

In America, poultry is the most extensively consumed meat. An average American eats about 101 pounds (45.81 kilograms) of chicken and 16 pounds (7.25 kilograms) of turkey annually. Poultry meat is now our favorite source of protein because it is widely available, inexpensive (or should we say “cheaper”), simple to prepare, and versatile. 

However, poultry meat has not always received consideration for how well they go with a limitless array of tastes, seasonings, and cooking techniques.

The Latin word “pullus,” which means “little animal,” is the source of the English term “poultry.” Today, domesticated birds kept for meat, eggs, and possibly feathers are known as poultry. However, the earliest poultry purposely produced by humans were often for their entertainment value rather than for their hot wings.

Archaeological data suggests Southeast Asia and China were the first civilized nations to domesticate hens for cockfighting 10,000 years ago. Many ancient societies’ ruins have artistic representations of roosters engaged in conflict.

Until recently, the first evidence of widespread poultry consumption came from Europe in the first century BC. But in an ancient Israeli city, researchers found what might be proof that poultry were domestic birds used for food at least 100 years earlier. 

As is often the case, National Poultry Day had modest beginnings, which is how the best things sometimes come to be. The celebration, which began in a small Ohio town called Versailles in 1951 and only lasted one day, gained popularity each year until 1962, when it expanded to two days.

Every year, the number of attendees, the number of food options, and the number of activities increased. The current National Poultry Day activities span an entire weekend and include everything from a giant omelet pan to barbeque pits and beer tents.

People in Ohio value National Poultry Day greatly. Every year, for one brief weekend, its 2,687 resident population increases to around 52,000. Due to the enormous flood of attendees, the festival has relocated to Heritage Park, a 16.18-hectare (40 acres) park with shelter houses, ponds, sports grounds, and a walking track.

The proceeds from the event go toward maintaining the park all year long, funding it, and making nearly $700,000 in gifts over ten years to significant charities.

Interesting Facts About National Poultry Day

Although we love chicken year-round, on National Poultry Day, we honor our feathered friends reared for their eggs and meat. Chickens, ducks, and turkeys are the most common domestic birds featured on dinner plates in homes worldwide.

Chicken

Humans consume chicken more than any other poultry! Compared to other types of poultry, consumption is significantly higher in America, the UK, and Ireland. How frequently do you eat chicken each week? Here are a few interesting facts about chicken:

We’ve gathered some entertaining and enlightening information about a handful of these domesticated birds, like chicken, turkey, and duck, that we enjoy eating for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

There are more chickens on earth than humans; about 19 billion chickens worldwide, compared to the human population of about 7.6 billion. Additionally, there are more chickens than any other type of bird.

Alektorophobia is a term used to refer to the fear of chickens.

Chickens enjoy classical music a lot. They can produce heavier and bigger eggs if they listen to classical music. 

Chickens are not slow. They can run up to 9 miles per hour (14.5 kilometers per hour).

If you love fried chicken, you should probably visit South Korea. There are more fried chicken restaurants there than there are McDonald’s restaurants globally!

Chickens can remember over 100 different human or animal faces.

A mother hen can lay more than 300 eggs annually and turns her eggs about 50 times daily.

The highest number of eggs laid in a day by a single chicken is seven. The number of eggs laid in a year by a single chicken is 371.

A chicken lays eggs at 105° Fahrenheit (40° Celsius). The egg begins to develop at 88° Fahrenheit (31° Celsius).

The chicken’s earlobes determine what color the egg will be. Even though chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs, those with red earlobes lay brown eggs.

Older chickens produce larger eggs, though fewer than when they are young.

Although they can taste salt, chicken cannot taste sweetness.

You have to eat fried chicken with your bare hands in Gainesville, Florida. You cannot consume it in any other way.

For a chicken to produce a dozen eggs, it must consume 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) of feed.

On average, 97 chickens get slaughtered in the world every 0.05 seconds.

The United Kingdom virtually eradicated salmonella by immunizing chicken.

Due to hyperpigmentation, a rare breed of chicken from Indonesia is entirely black, including the feathers, beak, and internal organs. They are obtainable for roughly $2,500.

Laetiporus, a type of wild mushroom, has a flavor similar to chicken. It’s sometimes referred to as the “fried chicken mushroom.”

Before 1964, when a restaurant owner barbecued and served chicken wings and gave them the name “Buffalo wings,” most people found them undesirable and occasionally could not eat them. However, the name “Buffalo wings” came after New York City, where the first production happened.

The world record for most egg yolks in one egg stands at nine.

The largest chicken egg ever measured had two yolks and weighed 12 ounces (340 grams).

Duck

Compared to turkey or chicken meat, duck meat from the breasts to the legs has a darker color and a somewhat higher fat content.

All ducks, including swans and geese, belong to the Anitidae family of ducks, which includes between 140 and 175 different species of birds. One of the most popular duck species in the world is the mallard, also known as the muscovy duck. It is the oldest of all domestic ducks. There are more than 40 varieties of domestic ducks.

Duck meat is a common dish in Chinese cooking.

Pekin duck, an American breed, produces meat for Peking duck. The most popular breed farmed for eggs and meat is the all-white Pekin duck, often known as the Long Island duck.

You can’t just call a duck a duck! A young duck is a duckling, while an adult female is a hen or a duck. An adult male duck is a drake.

The terms “team,” “raft,” or “paddling” refers to a group of ducks.

A few ducks quack, while the majority are mute.

Turkey

Christmas dinners in the UK and Ireland and Thanksgiving Day in America in late November are popular events to eat turkey. How well do you know this popular seasonally-eaten bird? Here are a few interesting facts about turkeys:

Turkeys have been in existence for over 10 million years. They originated in Mexico, not Turkey. Israel, however, consumes more turkey than any other nation in the world.

While wild turkeys can run at about 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour) and fly for short distances at up to 55 miles per hour (88.5 kilometers per hour), domestic turkeys cannot.

William Strickland, a Yorkshireman, introduced turkeys to Britain for the first time in 1526. They served in a royal feast. Henry VIII was the first English king to eat a turkey meal, but Edward VII gets credit for starting the tradition that led to the replacement of peacocks in royal courts with turkey during Christmas.

Today’s turkeys come in 43 different breeds. The white, bronze, and Norfolk Black varieties are the most popular in the UK.

Tips on Recycling Poultry Feathers

Even though feathers are a wasteful by-product of the poultry industry, some farmers keep chickens, ducks, and turkeys, particularly for their feathers. Boas, feather fans, masks, costume accessories, bird ornaments, jewelry, and flowers are just a few decorative items made from feathers. Additionally, feathers are critical components in the creation of fishing flies.

Even though chicken feathers don’t weigh much, the volume of feathers produced yearly in the United States is significant. According to research, poultry feathers are essential in making a wide range of products, such as:

Pillow/cushion filling

Diapers

Interior padding

Paper

Plastics

Feather food

Reasons to Love This Day

Poultry Meat is Good for You

Poultry meat has fewer calories, less saturated fat, and less cholesterol than the majority of cuts of red meat. As if that weren’t enough, chicken breast offers 1.1 ounces (31 grams) more protein per 3.5 ounces (100 grams) than skirt steak, which has 0.95 ounces (27 grams) more. Keep feeling like a spring chicken by avoiding red meat!

Poultry are Wonderful Pets

The best thing about poultry, if you don’t consume their meat, is that they make remarkably terrific pets. Because they are friendly, poultry enjoy strutting around to see what the rest of the flock is doing. They may learn a few tricks if given a tasty mealworm reward.

Poultry birds are relatively cheap and simple to care for compared to other household pets, but they require a minimum of two or three other birds to be happy. Laying poultry will pay for their maintenance in daily fresh eggs if your neighborhood does not forbid keeping poultry as pets and you have space for a large coop.

For Health and Beauty

The rooster strutting around the barnyard with a colorful, attractive, and healthy comb attracts the attention of the hens in particular. A rooster trying to score in the corral would have a healthy crown and wattle. Top-tier cosmetics and natural skincare products frequently contain the sought-after component hyaluronic acid found in rooster combs. Hyaluronic acid is also consumable as a supplement.

Poultry Humor

Poultry jokes are like a childhood ritual. They are a peculiar rite of passage discovered sometime between kindergarten and first grade. We’re not sure why other birds of a feather haven’t been the target of corny jokes and puns. Perhaps hens are less likely than other birds to become offended by poultry jokes. We speculate that it is because most Americans love to eat poultry meat.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Did National Poultry Day Start?

National Poultry Day first took place in 1951 in Ohio’s picturesque community (USA). As the years passed and the consumption of eggs and meat from birds increased, this day became recognized as a holiday, and the celebration’s popularity soared.

Do Chicken Fly?

One of a bird’s defining characteristics is its ability to fly. Chicken can only fly a short distance and at a low altitude, unlike pigeons, which often soar high in the sky. Their body mass is extremely heavy compared to the size of their wings.

What are Poultry Raised for?

People breed different varieties of poultry for either meat or eggs. A bird’s future will depend on the purpose for which its production was, including its diet, housing, health, and longevity. Some poultry farms breed birds for their feathers specifically.

What is Poultry and its Importance?

Poultry, in animal husbandry, refers to domesticated or commercially farmed birds raised for their meat, eggs, or feathers. While squabs and Guinea fowls are primarily for personal interests, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese are mainly for significant economic value. 

Poultry meat and eggs provide a good source of affordable, high-quality protein. Poultry farming is sustainable, effective, and can offer a ready supply of money and sustenance, especially on a small scale.

Final Recommendations

Truly, National Poultry Day is a day of delectable dishes and excellent chances. It is an opportunity to recognize the significance of poultry in our lives and to show our appreciation for something we frequently take for granted. 

Be sure to celebrate National Poultry Day by participating in local poultry day events or do it at home with friends and family. You’ll create enduring memories for you and your friends and remember a lovely holiday. If you own a poultry business, you will gain a lot from this particular day. You will have the opportunity to acknowledge the worth of poultry to your business. 

Make your schedule for National Poultry Day and enjoy this wonderful day! 

When is National Poultry Day? March 19 is annual National Poultry Day. On this day, we honor this age-old practice … Read more >