Is The Rotisserie Chicken Sold at Costco Really Just A Few Weeks Old?

Costco rotisserie chicken is a bargain at $4.99 and literally flies out the door.  The quality seems to be better than the rotisserie chicken sold at many grocery stores with plumper chicken and lower prices, as you would expect at Costco.

I'm surprised they don't make you buy more than one, though.  After all, it's Costco, right?

Costco is committed to the $4.99 price point as a loss leader as Business Week reports to lure customers and the formula has made Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken the top seller in the U.S. at 137 million chickens sold (in 2023)

And yes, the chickens are very young, raised quickly to maximize production and keep the supply chain moving to meet demand and the $4.99 price point.

Get our free mobile app

Using vertical integration, the company produces broiler chickens that are bred for consumption after less than seven weeks and weighing about five pounds according to industry watchdogs.  A century ago, chickens were raised for 16 weeks and weighed just 2.5 pounds before they were ready for commercial production.

Costco rotisserie chicken is sold on the shelf at 3 pounds and is larger than you will find at Safeway or Walmart for instance.  The company says its product is larger as a result of hybrid breeding techniques and is not raised with hormones which is not permitted under U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.

I still enjoy a rotisserie chicken from Costco now and then and the decision to consume animal products based on their welfare and conditions they are raised under during commercial production remains an individual's choice to make.