You might be interested to learn that in 1996 there were
over 8 billion animals killed in commercial slaughter
in the USA.
Figures given in Thousands of head:
1995 1996
Cattle 35,639 36,643
Steers 18,274 17,901
Heifers 10,399 10,726
Beef Cows 3,355 4,482
Dairy Cows 2,926 3,100
Bulls and stags 686 734
Calves 1,430 1,750
Sheep 4,560 4,179
Hogs 96,326 92,376
Barrows & gilts 91,683 88,173
Sows 3,760 3,526
Broilers 7,371,429 7,566,030
Turkeys 281,032 294,029
7,923,494 8,125,645
For statistics & information contact
Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or
E-mail: NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV.Chickens constitute over 93% of all animals killed in
commercial slaughter.Note: McDonald's was at one time second only to KFC in terms of
number of chickens killed for a single company. McDonald's is
now believed to be the number one killer of chickens - having
doubled the number of stores since that time)