COSTCO Chicken Facility project for Fremont

Costco Wholesale Corp. has been working all spring to get approval for a $180 million poultry processing plant near Fremont, Nebraska, that would process roughly 1.6 million birds a week. The facility would cater to Costco stores, which sell rotisserie chickens that are popular with customers.

Costco will own the processing plant, and all of the product will go to Costco stores. Lincoln Premium Poultry LLC will run the actual poultry production side of the operation, said Walt Shafer, project manager for Lincoln Premium. To keep operating, the processing plant would need roughly 404 barns built in the local area that would each raise about 43,000 birds per barn for each flock delivered. That would include 332 broiler barns, 24 pullet barns and 48 breeder barns.