By Charlie Reeve
Total UK poultry meat production reached 200,000 tonnes in July, up by 50,000 tonnes on the previous month, according to the latest figures from Defra.
Production was also up on the same month last year by 27,000 tonnes (9.3%).
Broiler meat production accounted for 184,000 tonnes in July, up by 33% on the previous month.
Meanwhile, boiling fowl production increased to 4,500 tonnes, up by 700 tonnes on June levels.
Throughputs also lifted during July. The number of UK broilers slaughtered in July increased by 8.1% on the year to total 110.7 million birds, 23.1 million birds more than the previous month.
The number of boiling fowl, including spent hens and spent breeders, held again at 2.8 million birds. However, was down by 20% compared with July 2023.
UK turkey slaughterings held at 100,000 birds in July.
Broiler chick placings in the UK increased by 2.8% on the year in July at 108.3 million chicks.
Meanwhile, commercial layer chick placings dropped significantly by 17% in July compared to the same month last year, totalling 3.7 million chicks.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England & Wales dropped to 2.3kg for broilers, this put it back in line with previous levels.
Turkey chick placings were up by 8.3% on the year at 1.4 million chicks.