General (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended											12 Months Ended														12 Months Ended																		0 Months Ended
	Dec. 28, 2013		Sep. 28, 2013		Jun. 29, 2013		Mar. 30, 2013	Dec. 29, 2012	Sep. 29, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 28, 2013 weeks	Dec. 29, 2012 weeks	Dec. 31, 2011 weeks	Dec. 28, 2013 Foreign Exchange Contract [Member] Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] Other Assets [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Non Vested Stock [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Non Vested Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non Vested Stock [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Rothsay [Member] segment	Oct. 28, 2013 Rothsay [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Credit Agreement Term Loan [Member] Secured Debt [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Darling International Senior Secured Revolving Loan Facility [Member] Secured Debt [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] weeks facilities	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Buildings and improvements [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Machinery and equipment [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Vehicles [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Aircraft [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Routes [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Permits [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Non-compete agreements [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Minimum [Member] Trade Names [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] weeks	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Buildings and improvements [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Machinery and equipment [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Vehicles [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Aircraft [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Routes [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Permits [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Non-compete agreements [Member]	Dec. 28, 2013 Maximum [Member] Trade Names [Member]	Dec. 18, 2013 Common Stock [Member]	Jan. 27, 2011 Common Stock [Member]
General [Line Items]
Number of Processing and Transfer Facilities																										130
Number Of Weeks Of Contribution In Year End Results From Assets Acquired												9
Number of Operating Segments																						2
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Number Of Weeks Year To Date												52	52	52												52									53
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract]
Investments Classified As Cash Equivalents, Original Maturity												3 months
Long Lived Assets [Abstract]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life																											15 years	3 years	3 years	7 years						30 years	10 years	8 years	10 years
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Useful Life																															5 years	10 years	3 years	4 years						21 years	20 years	7 years	15 years
Goodwill [Abstract]
Goodwill	$ 701,637,000							$ 381,369,000				$ 701,637,000	$ 381,369,000										$ 261,668,000
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Issuance of common stock (in shares)																																												46,000,000	24,193,548
Basic:
Net income												108,967,000	130,770,000	169,418,000
Shares												119,526,000	117,592,000	114,924,000
Basic earnings per share	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 0.23	[1]	$ 0.22	[1]	$ 0.27	$ 0.24	$ 0.32	$ 0.31	$ 0.24	$ 0.91	$ 1.11	$ 1.47
Effect of dilutive securities: [Abstract]
Add: Option shares in the money and dilutive effect of non-vested stock												848,000	806,000	972,000
Less: Pro forma treasury shares												(450,000)	(309,000)	(371,000)
Diluted:
Net Income												108,967,000	130,770,000	169,418,000
Shares												119,924,000	118,089,000	115,525,000
Per Share	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 0.23	[1]	$ 0.22	[1]	$ 0.27	$ 0.24	$ 0.31	$ 0.31	$ 0.24	$ 0.91	$ 1.11	$ 1.47
Antidilutive Securities [Abstract]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share, amount																135,733	207,890	63,272	57,257	105,486	330,268
Stock Based Compensation [Abstract]
Stock-based compensation expense												9,400,000	8,900,000	3,900,000
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Tax Benefit from Compensation Expense												3,700,000	3,500,000	1,900,000
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation												1,138,000	2,652,000	1,125,000
Financial Instruments [Abstract]
Long-term Debt	886,835,000							250,224,000				886,835,000	250,224,000											340,000,000	286,700,000
Long-term Debt, Fair Value	275,000,000											275,000,000												341,700,000	282,400,000
Foreign currency translation												(14,502,000)	0	0
Foreign currency gains (losses)												28,107,000	0	0
Foreign Currency Transaction Gain (Loss), Unrealized	$ 27,500,000											$ 27,516,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 27,500,000

[1] Included in net income are $0.8 million in transaction costs in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, $8.3 million in transaction costs in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 and $14.2 million in the fourth quarter relating to the Terra Transaction, Rothsay Acquisition and the VION Acquisition.