ATHENS, Ala. — Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Friday it would idle two chicken processing plants that employ almost 1,000 people total in Alabama and Georgia as it cuts cost while trying to emerge from bankruptcy.

Within 75 days, the company plans to idle one of its two plants in Athens that employs about 330 people. It also will close a plant in Athens, Ala., that employs 640 people within 75 days.

Pilgrim’s Pride, based in Pittsburg, Texas, said it expects to offer jobs to many of the displaced workers at other locations. The plants’ production will shift elsewhere, a statement said, and they could be reopened eventually if needed.

The company said operations from the Athens, Ga., plant that is closing would shift to its other facility there. The company also operates a processing plant in Gainesville, one of its eight in Georgia, employing some 1,200 workers.

Pilgrim’s Pride filed for bankruptcy reorganization in December, and CEO Don Jackson said the closings were part of a restructuring meant to get the company on a solid footing.

"We are taking these actions now to protect the jobs of our 41,000 employees and 4,500 growers so that we can emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger, more efficient company," he said in the statement.

Pilgrim’s Pride said it didn’t expect a major reduction in the number of contract growers it uses in either state. A hatchery in Moulton and a feed mill in Falkville will continue to operate in north Alabama, as will other operations linked to the Alabama plant.

With its December 2006 acquisition of rival Gold Kist, Pilgrim’s Pride became the largest poultry company, both in the U.S. and in Georgia. The company employs approximately 50,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico. Pilgrim’s Pride entered the Gainesville market in 2003 with its acquisition of the poultry processing operation of ConAgra Foods.