By Charlie Reeve
Total UK poultry meat production lifted by just 1,500t on the previous month in September and remains roughly in line with year earlier levels.
Production in recent months has settled back after having peaked at more than 200,000t in July.
Broiler meat production accounted for 144,400t in September, up by just 1,100t on the previous month.
Meanwhile, boiling fowl production increased to 4,200 tonnes, up by 300 tonnes on August figures.
Throughputs also lifted during September. The number of UK broilers slaughtered in September increased by 500,000 on the year to total 88 million birds.
Boiling fowl slaughterings, including spent hens and spent breeders, lifted marginally to 3 million birds. However, this was still 300,000 fewer birds than the same month last year.
UK turkey slaughterings held at 600,000 birds.
Chick placings
Broiler chick placings in the UK declined by 2.8% on the year in September at 92.5 million chicks.
Meanwhile, commercial layer chick placings increased dramatically by 19% in September compared to the same month last year, totalling 3 million chicks.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England & Wales held at 2.4kg for broilers for the third consecutive month.
Turkey chick placings fell by 24% on the year to 1 million chicks.
Egg production
Farmgate egg prices averaged 144 pence per dozen in the UK during the third quarter of 2024.
This was a 0.2% increase on the previous quarter and up by 4.2% on the same period last year.
UK egg production was also up during the third quarter of 2024 with 254 million dozen eggs produced for human consumption, which represents a 7.2% increase year-on-year.