US poultry slaughter December output up 2 percent
 

US poultry output certified wholesome within December 2008 (ready-to-cook weight) amounted to 3.47 billion pounds, up 2 percent from the amount certified in December 2007, according to USDA statistics.
 
The November 2008 revised certified total at 3.22 billion pounds, was down 10 percent from November 2007.
 
The November revision represented a rise of 1.39 million pounds from preliminary pounds certified a month ago.
 
The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during December 2008 was 4.64 billion pounds, up 1 percent from 4.58 billion pounds a year ago.
 
Young chickens inspected totalled 3.94 billion pounds, up slightly from December 2007. Mature chickens, at 63.8 million pounds, were up 5 percent from last year.
 
Turkey inspections totalled 617 million pounds, up 6 percent from a year ago.
 
Young chickens slaughtered during December 2008 averaged 5.56 pounds per bird, down 1 percent from December 2007.
 
The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.56 pounds per bird, down 2 percent from a year ago.
 
Turkeys slaughtered during December 2008 averaged 29.6 pounds per bird, up 2 percent from December 2007.
 
Ante-mortem condemnations during December 2008 totalled 14.4 million pounds.
 
Condemnations were 0.31 percent of the live weight inspected, as versus 0.33 percent a year earlier.
 
Post-mortem condemnations, at 41.0 million pounds, were 1.17 percent of quantities inspected, as compared with 1.21 percent a year earlier.