Alberta has nearly 15 million chickens and hens, plus turkeys, and almost all of them live in barns you’ve probably driven past without a second look. Poultry barns are long, closed buildings with fans on the walls and a tall metal feed bin outside.
By the numbers
- Alberta had about 14.9 million chickens and hens in the 2021 Census, about 10% of Canada’s total and fourth among the provinces.
- In 2025 Alberta had 251 chicken farms, 168 egg farms, 39 turkey farms and 27 farms producing hatching eggs.
- The province also has broiler and turkey hatcheries, 29 egg grading stations, and chicken and turkey processing plants.
Different barns, different jobs
- Egg farms keep laying hens. The eggs are collected, washed, graded and boxed at a grading station before they reach the store.
- Chicken farms raise broilers, chickens grown for meat. They arrive as day-old chicks from a hatchery and are ready for market in a matter of weeks.
- Turkey farms raise birds for meat, including the ones on Thanksgiving and Christmas tables.
- Hatching-egg farms keep the parent flocks whose eggs become the next generation of broilers.
Like hog barns, poultry barns are closed to visitors to keep out diseases such as avian influenza, which wild birds can carry, especially during the spring and fall migrations.
Supply management
Eggs, chicken, turkey and hatching eggs are all supply managed in Canada, the same as milk. Each farm holds a quota for how much it can produce, prices are set to cover the cost of production, and imports are limited. The goal is a steady supply of fresh, Canadian-raised eggs and poultry all year.
Learn more
See the poultry tile in our Farm Country guide. Sources: Statistics Canada (2021 Census); Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Provincial Poultry Facts (2025); Farm Products Council of Canada.
Top photo: USDA NRCS, public domain.