Chicken raising is experiencing unprecedented popularity. The backyard-chicken movement is recapturing some of the agricultural legacy lost to golf courses, sprawling estates and business campuses.
Source: Pet Product News International, March 2017.
The guesstimates of the number of backyard chicken owners in the U.S. is anywhere from 1 million to 10 million households. According to the Census Bureau, there were 134,789,444 chickens in U.S. households in 2015.
INSIGHTS: Animal health pros need to get up to speed on poultry health needs. Small animal reps and their veterinary or retail customers will face more questions about raising and keeping backyard chickens healthy. Also, consider how the VFD regulations apply to these small flocks being raised by novices.