Gold Kist was a large

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

producing company in the southern United States. It was founded in 1933 by D.W. Brooks, a

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

instructor as the Cotton Producers Association, a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

to help farmers in

Carrollton, Georgia Carrollton is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Georgia, United States. It is within western Georgia, about 45 miles (72 km) west of Atlanta near the Alabama state line, and is included in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It is ...

, market cotton. It soon grew and diversified into fields such as

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

and retailing farm supplies. It soon entered the poultry business. In 1998 it exited the agronomy business to focus on protein products, primarily chicken but also pork. In 2004, with the approval of its membership, it converted from being a cooperative to a for-profit stock-ownership company, listed on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

. In 2006, Gold Kist was acquired by

Pilgrim's Pride Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is an American, multi-national food company, currently one of the largest chicken producers in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest chicken producer in Mexico. It exited bankruptcy in December 2009 ...

Operations

Gold Kist operated nine fully integrated poultry divisions in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Each division operated its own

hatchery A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ''ex situ'' conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled ...

, feed mill, and processing plant.

Co-op

Gold Kist contracted with approximately 2,300 family

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

to raise the chickens. The farmers provide the

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, equipment, utilities and labor to grow the birds. Gold Kist provides the chicks, feed and technical assistance. When the chickens reach market weight, Gold Kist processes and markets them. This contractual arrangement gives farmers access to global markets but reduces their exposure to market volatility.

Farms

Gold Kist operated three types of chicken farms;

pullet The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, layer, and

broiler Breed broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaug ...

Pullet

Operations

The company's pullet farms are where select breeds are raised to about 20

Layers

Operations

On a Gold Kist layer farm pullets were grown for a few weeks along with

roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

(about 1 rooster for every 8-10 hens) where they begin to mate and eventually lay eggs. The eggs that leave a Gold Kist layer farm (usually twice per week) were taken to the local division's hatchery. The birds were kept here for no more than 10 months.

Specifications

A Gold Kist layer house was usually 30–40 feet wide and 400–600 feet long. Each may house about 15,000 birds. A farm may contain a number of these but most contain only two side-by-side houses. Inside the house there are several automated systems including feed chains, water pipes, curtain drops, fans (two for every of length of the house), and a

cool cell Cool commonly refers to: * Cool, a moderately low temperature * Cool (aesthetic), an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, and style Cool or COOL may also refer to: Economics * Country of origin labelling * mCOOL - US consumer legislation to enfor ...

system acting like an air conditioning system during hot days.

Broiler

Operations

The layer hens' hatched chicks were taken to a Gold Kist broiler farm where they were grown from the day they hatch (usually just hours after hatching) for about 6 to 8 weeks.

Specifications

A Gold Kist broiler house was usually 30–40 feet wide and 400–600 feet long. Each may house thousands of chicks. A farm may contain a number of these; most contain about 4-6 houses. Inside the house there are several automated systems including feed chains, water pipes, curtain drops, fans, and a gas heating system to keep chicks warm. KFC uses Gold Kist Farm Chicken.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Goldkist home page
Former cooperatives of the United States Companies based in Georgia (U.S. state) Food and drink companies established in 1933 Agriculture companies of the United States 1933 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)