Three million chickens a week will be processed at the state-of-the-art facility in Tamworth – a fifth of all those eaten nationwide.
The sleek, rust-coloured saucer settles into the earth, mirroring the surrounding hills.
The lines are the gateway to a $600m poultry processing plant that will, at full capacity, process 3 million chickens a week.
Located in Tamworth, 300km north of Sydney, the new facility is owned by Baiada, one of Australia’s two largest chicken producers and the owner of household brand names Steggles and Lilydale Free Range.
At its height, two lines will process 15,000 birds an hour as chickens fly through state-of-the-art systems and automated packing machines en route to supermarkets across the state. The new plant will support more than 1,000 jobs, with workers able to spend their lunch breaks at an on-site cafeteria, at a gym or in landscaped gardens.
Jeff Budd, deputy mayor of Tamworth regional council, has toured the facility, which opened last week.
Almost half of all meat eaten in Australia is chicken, and consumption has doubled in the past 30 years. More than 800 million chickens will be killed this financial year to meet the demand.
Melina Tensen, the senior scientific officer for farm animals at the RSPCA, said about 97% of chicken meat sold in Australia abides by the organisation’s welfare standards.
Most of Australia’s commercial chickens are two fast-growing breeds, the Ross 308 and the Cobb 500, which reach slaughter weight at between four and six weeks of age.