Poultry meat production once again fell in March, down 1.2% year on year at 147,700 thousand tonnes.
Much of the decline was a result of lower broiler meat production, which accounted for the majority of total production, however turkey production and duck production also fell compared to the same time last year, down 26% and 10% respectively.
UK broiler chick placings held steady at 91.3 million chicks, while turkey chick placings were down 12% at 0.5 million chicks.
The total number of UK broiler birds slaughtered in February was 88.8m, which was up 0.8% on the same month last year.
UK boiling fowl slaughterings, including spent hens and spent breeders, increased to 3.3 million birds, up 42% year on year.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England & Wales declined to 2.3kg for broilers, after having held at 2.4kg for several months over the winter.
Chick placings
UK broiler chick placings increased 1.7% in March at 91.3 million chicks, while commercial layer chick placings were up 7.8% to a total of 3.2 million chicks.
Turkey chick placings increased 24% in March to 500,000 birds.
Egg production
255 million dozen eggs were produced for human consumption in Q1 2025. This represents an increase of 2.7% compared with Q1 2024 and an increase of 0.5% on Q4 2024.
The average UK farm-gate egg price through Q1 2025 was 148 pence per dozen, this represents an increase of 3.5% on Q1 2024 and an increase of 1% on Q4 2024.
The production of egg products during Q1 2025 totalled 17 thousand tonnes, a decrease of 7.9% on Q1 2024 and an increase of 19% on Q4 2024.