Massachusetts Chicken and Turkey Broiler Test, Inc., Records

Background on Massachusetts Chicken and Turkey Broiler Test, Inc.

An early example of cooperation in research between industry and academia, the Massachusetts Chicken and Turkey Broiler Test, Inc., was first conceived in 1953 as the Chicken of Tomorrow Contest, drawing upon the professional expertise in poultry science among the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and applying it to the industry's goals of efficiency in production. With funding of almost $5,000 from poultry industry sources covering near all of the costs, the Broiler Test committee purchased nearly six acres adjacent to UMass Amherst and a mortgage of $12,000 enabled them to construct a modern test house designed by Thornton Stevens, the poultry plant manager, and constructed under the direction of UMass student, Terry B. Kinney. To achieve sustainability in operations, the committee planned to fund operations through the $25 entry fees.

With construction of the test house completed during the summer 1954, the project got under way, with the first tests coming during the fall. During the five year course of the project, three chicken tests and one turkey test were conducted annually, with chicken tests lasting for ten weeks and turkeys lasting eleven, evaluating various breed combinations. At 24 weeks for hens and 26 for toms, all birds were evaluated for body weight, conformation, and finish "before and after dressing" at the Brocton Co-op. According to industry publicity, the testing succeeded in producing a notable improvement in growth and efficiency in both the chicken and turkey operations, "accomplished by vigorous selection on the part of breeders, superiority of rations, and sound poultry health programs."

With the research and testing considered complete and the Broiler Test shuttering its operations, the UMass Board of Trustees voted in Jan. 1959 to purchase the property adjoining the Tillson Poultry Farm on East Pleasant Street and equipment for $14,000.