US Poultry Ready-to-Cook Weight Up 10 Percent - US - The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) comment on the poultry weights and slaughter levels in their monthly Poultry Slaughter Report.

Ready-to-Cook Weight Up 10 Percent

Poultry certified wholesome during March 2004 (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 3.43 billion pounds, up 10 percent from the amount certified in March 2003. Updated totals for February 2004 show that 2.91 billion pounds were certified.

The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during March 2004 was 4.64 billion pounds, up 11 percent from a year ago. Young chickens inspected totaled 3.96 billion pounds, up 13 percent from March 2003, and mature chickens at 68.2 million pounds, were up 1 percent from the previous year.

Turkey inspections totaled 597 million pounds, up slightly, and ducks totaled 14.9 million pounds, up 16 percent from last year.

Young chickens slaughtered during March 2004 averaged 5.16 pounds per bird, up 1 percent from March 2003. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.39 pounds per bird, unchanged from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during March 2004 averaged 26.5 pounds per bird, down 3 percent from March 2003.

Ante-mortem condemnations during March 2004 totaled 19.7 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.42 percent of the live weight inspected, compared to 0.41 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 55.7 million pounds (N.Y. dressed weight), were 1.34 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.25 percent a year earlier.

March 2004 contained 23 weekdays and four Saturdays.
March 2003 contained 21 weekdays and five Saturdays.

Young Chickens: Live Weight Slaughtered, By Month, 2001-2004

Young Turkeys: Live Weight Slaughtered, By Month, 2001-2004

To view the full report, including tables, please click here (PDF format, 21 pages)

Source: USDA NASS - Poultry Slaughter - 10th May 2004