Table 2.

Estimated Numbers of US Swine and Poultry Caretakers Based Upon Animal Productivity Counts.

Animal types	Average number of animals in US inventory at any one time	Number of needed (full time equivalent) animal caretakers with direct contact	Estimated Number of workers*
Breeding sows	6,060,000†	1 FTE/300 breeding sows‡	20,200
Finishing pigs	34,270,000†	1 FTE/8000 finishing pigs‡	4,284
Nursery pigs	20,598,000†	1 FTE/5000 nursery pigs‡	4,120
Broiler chickens	1,500,000,000§	0.07 FTE/10,000 broilers§	10,500
Egg layers	290,000,000§	0.06 FTE/10,000 egg layers§	1,740
Turkeys	120,000,000§	0.03 FTE/1000 turkeys§	3,600
---	---	Veterinarians and veterinary technicians involved in swine production||	9,830
---	---	Veterinarians and veterinary technicians involved in poultry production‡	200
		Total workers	54,474

^*These numbers represent an estimate of the number of workers providing daily care for the animals. They do not reflect the actual number of people working in swine or poultry processing plants, and they do not include estimates of the number of people working with or caring for backyard poultry or swine.

^†US Hog Report statistics, 2006

^‡Personal communication Alex Ramirez, DVM, MPH, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

^§D.W.T.’s estimates through consultations with poultry industry representatives

^||American Veterinary Medical Association market statistics report, 2006