National Poultry Day is on Friday, March 19, 2027, and it falls on March 19 every year. It celebrates chicken, turkey, duck and other farm birds, both as food and as animals. It’s a good day to try a new poultry recipe or visit a farm with a flock.
When Is National Poultry Day?
It’s always March 19. It’s an unofficial food and farm day, not a federal holiday.
Who Started National Poultry Day?
No founder or start year has been documented.
Why Celebrate Poultry?
Chicken is a staple of American meals. Americans ate about 104.3 pounds of chicken per person in 2025, according to the National Chicken Council.
U.S. farms produced almost 9.4 billion broiler chickens that year, weighing over 62 billion pounds. North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi lead the country in broiler production.
How to Celebrate National Poultry Day
- Roast a whole chicken: dry the skin, season with salt and roast at 425°F until the thigh reads 165°F.
- Try a different bird: cook duck breast skin-side down in a cold pan to render the fat slowly.
- Make stock from the bones: simmer the leftover carcass with onion, carrot and celery.
- Visit a farm: many small farms sell fresh eggs and let kids see the hens.
- Check flock rules: read your city’s rules on keeping hens before you buy chicks.
- Cook global chicken: try Korean fried chicken, Indian butter chicken or Peruvian pollo a la brasa.
- Prep safely: make salads before you handle raw chicken, and sanitize the counter afterward.
- Collect eggs often: if you keep hens, gather eggs daily and cook them thoroughly.
Should You Wash Raw Chicken?
No. The USDA says washing or rinsing raw poultry doesn’t kill bacteria and can spread it around your kitchen.
In a 2019 USDA study, 60% of people who washed raw poultry had bacteria in their sink afterward. And 26% of washers spread bacteria to salad lettuce they made next. If you need to remove something, pat it with a damp paper towel, then wash your hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What temperature should chicken reach?
Cook all poultry to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer in the thickest part. That includes whole birds, breasts, thighs, wings and ground poultry.
Are backyard chickens safe to handle?
They can carry Salmonella even when healthy, the CDC says. Wash hands after touching birds, eggs or the coop, and don’t let children under 5 handle chicks.
How long can cooked chicken sit out?
No more than two hours. The USDA says perishable food left between 40°F and 140°F longer than that should be thrown away.
Is turkey counted as poultry?
Yes. Poultry includes domesticated birds raised for meat or eggs, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese.