By Charlie Reeve
Total UK poultry meat production has dropped back in line with year earlier levels during August after peaking at 200,000 tonnes in July, according to the latest figures from Defra.
Broiler meat production accounted for the vast majority of production at 143,300 tonnes in August, down from 184,800 tonnes in the previous month.
Meanwhile, boiling fowl production declined from 5,100 tonnes to 3,900 tonnes.
UK broiler slaughterings dropped by 1.9% on the year at 87.5 million birds during August and were down by 20% on month earlier levels.
The number of boiling fowl, including spent hens and spent breeders, slipped to 2.7 million birds, down on both month and year earlier levels.
UK turkey slaughterings declined from 700,000 birds in July to 600,000 in August.
Chick placings
Broiler chick placings by UK hatcheries declined by 1% on the year in August to 91 million chicks.
A decline in the number of placed chicks each month indicates a potential fall in future volumes of poultry meat and egg production.
Meanwhile, commercial layer chick placings lifted by 1.5% in August compared to the same month last year, totalling 2.8 million chicks.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England & Wales remained around 2.3kg for broilers, up marginally on the year.
Turkey poult placings were fell by 25% on the year to 1 million chicks.