By Charlie Reeve
Total UK poultry meat production dropped by almost 40,000t on the previous month in November to total 160,000t, this was also 7,000t below November 2023 levels.
Broiler meat production accounted for 139,200t in November, down by 43,500t on October.
Meanwhile, boiling fowl production contracted by 400t on the month to total just 4,400t.
However, despite lower production in November, UK poultry meat production is still on track to be higher overall during 2024, with production for the first 11 months of the year up by 46,000t.
The total throughput, similar to production, was lower during November. The number of UK broilers slaughtered in November decreased by 2.7% on the year to total 87.5 million birds.
Average liveweights per bird at point of slaughter in England & Wales held at 2.3kg for broilers.
Boiling fowl slaughterings, including spent hens and spent breeders, held at 3 million birds. However, this was still 100,000 fewer birds than the same month last year.
UK turkey slaughterings increased during November in the build up to Christmas but was still down by 200,000 on the year at 1.6 million birds.
Chick placings
Broiler chick placings in the UK were up by 6.5% in November at 85 million chicks.
Meanwhile, commercial layer chick placings fell by 14% in November compared to the same month last year, totalling 2.7 million chicks.
Turkey chick placings dropped by 4.1% on the year at 0.6 million chicks.
Egg production
Farmgate egg prices averaged 146 pence per dozen in the UK during the third quarter of 2024.
This was a 1.3% increase on the previous quarter and up by 5.4% on the same quarter 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.