By Charlie Reeve
UK poultry meat production increased in October, lifting to 181,100 tonnes and surpassing both monthly and year earlier levels.
The uplift was largely driven by higher throughputs and heavier slaughter weights for broiler birds.
Poultry processors saw broiler numbers lift to 99m birds during the month, up by 4m birds on the previous month and roughly in line with year earlier levels.
Meanwhile, average liveweight of broiler birds at point of slaughter increased from 2.3kg in October 2024 to 2.4kg in October this year.
Boiling fowl throughputs at abattoirs eased slightly in October to 2.7m birds, though this still sits 19% higher than the same month last year, highlighting continued strong demand compared with 2024.
However, the birds were lighter with average liveweight at slaughter at just 1.9kg, compared with 2.4kg last year.
The number of turkeys slaughtered fell by 21% year-on-year to 500,000 birds.
Chick Placings
Broiler chick placings increased by 0.3% year-on-year to 99 million chicks In October.
Commercial layer chick placings also increased, lifting to 3.7 million chicks.
However, broiler breeder numbers were down considerably, with just 100,000 chick placings.
Egg prices and production
Farmgate egg prices in the UK averaged 148 pence per dozen during the third quarter of 2025, marking a 1.8% increase on the same quarter last year.
UK egg production for human consumption reached 268 million dozen eggs during the quarter, 1.9% higher than the second quarter of 2025 and 5.1% up year-on-year.
Overall egg production totalled 17,000 tonnes in the third quarter of 2025, a 17% rise on the previous quarter but a marginal decline on same period in 2024.