USDA’s January Poultry Slaughter report showed young chickens inspected were down six percent from December 2022. Poultry weight across the board is down six percent as well.
Poultry certified wholesome during December 2023 (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 4.06 billion pounds. The November 2023 revised certified total at 4.32 billion pounds, was down two percent from November 2022. The November revision represented an increase of 10 million pounds from last month’s preliminary pounds certified.
The preliminary total live weight of all federally inspected poultry during December 2023 was 5.36 billion pounds, down six percent from 5.70 billion pounds a year ago. Young chickens inspected totaled 4.78 billion pounds, down six percent from December 2022. Mature chickens, at 60 million pounds, were down nine percent from the previous year. Young chickens slaughtered during December 2023 averaged 6.61 pounds per bird, up one percent from December 2022. The average live weight of mature chickens was 6.81 pounds per bird, down one percent from a year ago.
Ante-mortem condemnations during December 2023 totaled 11.7 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.22 percent of the live weight inspected compared to 0.24 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 24.2 million pounds, were 0.59 percent of quantities inspected compared to 0.60 percent a year earlier.
The full report can be found here.
