US poultry ready-to-cook weight up in February

U.S. poultry certified wholesome during February (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 3.47 billion pounds, up 4 percent from the amount certified in February 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest report.
The January revised certified total at 3.62 billion pounds, was down 1 percent from January 2011. The preliminary total live weight of all federally inspected poultry during February was 4.6 billion pounds, up 4 percent from 4.42 billion pounds in 2011. Young chickens inspected totaled 3.93 billion pounds, up 4 percent from February 2011 numbers. Mature chickens, at 61 million pounds, were down slightly from 2011. Turkey inspections totaled 586 million pounds, up 7 percent from 2011 numbers, while ducks totaled 13.5 million pounds, up 7 percent.
Young chickens slaughtered during February averaged 5.82 pounds per bird, up 1 percent from February 2011. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.52 pounds per bird, down 1 percent from the same time in 2011, and turkeys slaughtered during February averaged 30.8 pounds per bird, up 1 percent from February 2011.
For more poultry information and statistics, see www.wattagnet.com/marketdata.html.