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How Poultry is Used

Each type of poultry is sold in different ways, depending on what consumers want.

Chicken

According to the National Chicken Council, chicken is the number 1 protein consumed in the U.S. A little over half is sold to consumers in grocery stores. The rest is sold to restaurants. Consumers can buy chicken in many forms: Whole, drumsticks, breasts, thighs, wings, or ground are all available in many stores.

Turkey

Whole turkeys are currently the most popular way for consumers to buy turkey. However, ground turkey, which people can use in place of ground beef, and cooked white turkey meat sold for sandwiches are also popular and growing in sales. While chickens have been sold in sections (breasts, thighs, drumsticks) for years, this has been a slower trend for turkeys.

Eggs

Eggs are usually sold raw in cartons for use in home kitchens or restaurants. But after that, they become many things: You might have them for breakfast scrambled, poached, fried, or hardboiled. You can also find them in breads, pasta, baked goods, omelets, and salads, to name a few. According to the American Egg Board, in August 2016, egg production totaled 7.44 billion. That's a lot of eggs! If that number stayed steady every month for a year, how many eggs would be produced in one year?