US poultry ready-to-cook weight down two percent in June

US poultry ready-to-cook weight totalled 3.6 billion pounds in June, down two percent on-year, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in their monthly Poultry Slaughter report.

The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during June 2009 was 4.79 billion pounds, down two percent on-year. Young chickens inspected totalled 4.08 billion pounds, down two percent from June 2008.

Mature chickens were down nine percent on-year at 72.4 million pounds, while turkey inspections dropped six percent to 618 million pounds. Ducks totalled 13 million pounds, up five percent on-year.

Young chickens slaughtered during June decreased slightly from June 2008 to average 5.54 pounds per bird. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.68 pounds per bird, down two percent from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during June averaged 28.5 pounds per bird, down one percent on-year.

Ante-mortem condemnations during the month totalled 14 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.29 percent of the live weight inspection, compared with 0.34 percent a year ago. Post-mortem condemnations, at 37.2 million pounds, were 1.02 percent of quantities inspected compared with 1.15 percent a year ago.