By Charlie Reeve
Total UK poultry meat production lifted both on the previous month and year earlier levels during March.
Production was up by 3.2% on the year to total 170,500 tonnes.
The number of broilers slaughtered during March increased by almost 2% year on year to 95m birds, which drove much of the overall increase in production.
Meanwhile, Monthly boiling fowl slaughterings dropped from 2.5m birds in March last year to 2m birds in March 2026.
Turkey slaughterings remained relatively flat at roughly 500,000 birds.
Average weights of birds at point of slaughter also increased to 2.4 kg, up on both year and month earlier levels.
Chick Placings
Broiler chick placings were up by 3.2% on the same month last year in March, taking it to more than 100m chicks.
UK commercial layer chick placings were also up by 3.2%, lifting to 3.7m chicks.
Meanwhile, turkey poult placings lifted by a further 13% on year earlier levels to 700,000 chicks.
Egg prices and production
UK farmgate egg prices rose by 1.2% compared with year earlier levels to average 148 pence per dozen during the final quarter of 2025, roughly in line with the previous quarter.
A total of 273m dozen eggs were produced for human consumption during the final quarter of the year, marking a 7% increase year-on-year and a 1.6% rise from the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, output of egg products reached 18,000 tonnes, up 35% compared with the same period a year earlier.