How does the poultry industry grow the chickens so fast? Do they use growth hormones?
No, the poultry industry in the U.S. does not use any growth hormone or any other hormone in producing meat or eggs. It has been illegal to use hormones of any kind in the production of poultry products for almost 50 years. Some other animal industries may still use hormone implants but it is not done with any commercial poultry. From the industry’s viewpoint, it is expensive and unnecessary because the present care and management is so good that birds grow equally well without feeding or using hormone implants. Hormones were tried experimentally with some types of market birds during the early 1950’s but due to the lack of growth improvement, the practice was abandoned. The federal government later made it illegal to use growth or sex hormones in the production of poultry. The bottom line is: The poultry industry does not use hormones in poultry production, just good management and nutrition. The diets fed to all poultry are specially formulated diets that contain many different ingre
