The UK produced 182,100 tonnes of poultry meat in September 2026, up 6.7% year on year. Broiler slaughterings rose by 3% to 98.4 million birds, while broiler meat production increased by 8.1% to 170,000 tonnes. Defra reported that the average liveweight of broilers slaughtered in England and Wales rose by 5% to 2.5 kg per bird.
Slaughterings of boiling fowl—which include spent hens and spent breeders—fell by 25% to 2.2 million birds. Meat production in this category also declined by 25%, to 2,700 tonnes.
Turkey and layer chick placings increase
UK hatcheries placed 95.9 million broiler chicks in September, down 0.1% from the same month in 2025. Placings of commercial layer chicks rose by 12% to 3.4 million, while turkey poult placings increased by 85% to 1.5 million.
Hatcheries set 110 million commercial broiler eggs during the month, 1.5% fewer than a year earlier. The number of turkey eggs set rose by 31% to 1.3 million, while layer eggs increased by 8.8% to 11 million.
Turkey slaughterings increased by 26% year on year, to 0.7 million birds. Defra withheld the average liveweight for turkeys and the production figures for turkey and duck meat. The department cited a low survey response rate for the turkey liveweight and duck meat figures.
The total poultry meat figure is expressed in carcase weight, converted to whole-bird equivalent and net of offal. It excludes other poultry types, including geese. www.gov.uk
The figures come from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) monthly statistics, which cover hatchery placings, slaughterings, average liveweights and poultry meat production. Defra’s poultry and poultry meat statistics page provides the monthly releases and datasets.
