By Charlie Reeve
UK poultry meat production totalled 169,800 tonnes in July, according to the latest Defra figures.
This was broadly unchanged from the same month last year and 13,000 tonnes higher than in June.
Broiler meat production accounted for the majority of this increase, reaching 161,700 tonnes in July, up by 7.8% month-on-month.
Poultry processing volumes also rose compared with June and returned to year earlier levels.
The number of broiler birds slaughtered climbed substantially to 98.6 million birds, while boiling fowl slaughterings edged down to 2.1 million birds.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England and Wales held again at 2.4kg.
Turkey slaughterings, however, fell by 9% year-on-year to 600,000 birds.
Chick Placings
Broiler chick placings, which make up the vast majority of chick placings, remained steady on the year in July to total 97.3 million chicks.
Commercial layer chick placings increased by 6% on the year to 3.4 million chicks, while turkey placings dropped by 100,000to 900,000 placings.
Broiler breeder placings rose slightly to 600,000 chicks.
Egg prices and production
UK farmgate egg prices averaged 148.5 pence per dozen during the second quarter of 2025, representing a 3.4% increase on the same quarter last year.
Egg production for human consumption totalled 264 million dozen eggs during the quarter, which is 2.4% higher than the first quarter of 2025 and up 5.7% year-on-year.
In total, egg production reached 15,000 tonnes in the second quarter of 2025, down by 1.4% from the previous quarter and 6.3% compared to the same period in 2024.