Poultry Slaughter National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released July 7, 2000, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Poultry Slaughter" call John Lange (202) 720-0585 or Mike Barker (202)720-3243, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Ready-to-Cook Weight Up 10 Percent Poultry certified wholesome during May (ready-to-cook weight), totaled 3.26 billion pounds, up 10 percent from the amount certified in May 1999. Updated totals for April 2000 show that 2.80 billion pounds were certified. The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during May 2000 was 4.41 billion pounds, up 9 percent from a year ago. Inspections included 3.70 billion pounds of young chickens, 9 percent above last year; 79.6 million pounds of mature chickens, up 2 percent; 623 million pounds of turkeys, up 11 percent; and 12.9 million pounds of ducks, up 7 percent from May 1999. Young chickens slaughtered during May 2000 averaged 4.96 pounds per bird, down 2 percent from 5.04 pounds per bird in May 1999. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.24 pounds per bird, up 3 percent from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during May 2000 averaged 26.2 pounds per bird, up 2 percent from May 1999. Ante-mortem condemnations during May 2000 totaled 16.3 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.37 percent of the live weight inspected, compared with 0.38 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 64.6 million pounds (N.Y. dressed weight), were 1.63 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.78 percent a year earlier. May 2000 contained 23 weekdays (including one holiday) and four Saturdays. May 1999 contained 21 weekdays (including one holiday) and five Saturdays. Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature 2/ : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Apr 2000 : 634,259 13,351 647,611 1,839 ----- May 1999 : 671,953 15,389 687,342 1,801 ----- May 2000 : 744,446 15,194 759,639 1,949 ----- : Jan-May 1999 : 3,347,099 75,875 3,422,974 9,494 ----- Jan-May 2000 : 3,437,766 71,605 3,509,371 9,821 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Apr 2000 : 3,173,054 68,442 3,241,496 12,251 759 May 1999 : 3,384,721 78,126 3,462,847 12,036 878 May 2000 : 3,695,707 79,557 3,775,264 12,880 997 : Jan-May 1999 : 16,788,657 383,731 17,172,388 63,259 4,154 Jan-May 2000 : 17,202,590 369,326 17,571,915 65,371 4,686 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Apr 2000 : 5.00 5.13 5.01 6.66 ----- May 1999 : 5.04 5.08 5.04 6.68 ----- May 2000 : 4.96 5.24 4.97 6.61 ----- : Jan-May 1999 : 5.02 5.06 5.02 6.66 ----- Jan-May 2000 : 5.00 5.16 5.01 6.66 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young 3/ : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Head Number Inspected : : Apr 2000 : --- 19,889 154 20,043 ----- May 1999 : 27 21,675 107 21,809 ----- May 2000 : 16 23,652 149 23,817 ----- : Jan-May 1999 : 27 102,699 660 103,386 ----- Jan-May 2000 : 50 105,156 745 105,951 ----- : : 1,000 Pounds Live Weight : : Apr 2000 : --- 520,945 4,067 525,013 3,779,518 May 1999 : 236 557,661 2,798 560,695 4,036,456 May 2000 : 130 619,137 4,049 623,317 4,412,458 : Jan-May 1999 : 236 2,631,581 17,691 2,649,508 19,889,309 Jan-May 2000 : 401 2,762,115 19,851 2,782,367 20,424,339 : : Pounds Average Live Weight : : Apr 2000 : --- 26.19 26.39 26.19 ----- May 1999 : 8.72 25.73 26.24 25.71 ----- May 2000 : 8.13 26.18 27.09 26.17 ----- : Jan-May 1999 : 8.72 25.62 26.82 25.63 ----- Jan-May 2000 : 8.05 26.27 26.64 26.26 ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. Totals may not add due to rounding. 2/ Of the Mature Chickens inspected, the number reported in thousands as heavy fowl (broiler breeding stock) was: May 1999: 5,749, May 2000: 6,251. 3/ Of the Young Turkeys inspected, the number reported in thousands as young breeders was: May 1999: 32, May 2000: 92. Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :---------------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Apr 2000 : Chilled : 2,128,794 38,733 2,167,527 3,463 192 Frozen : 204,923 2,559 207,482 5,140 275 : Total : 2,333,717 41,292 2,375,008 8,603 467 : May 1999 : Chilled : 2,262,898 43,543 2,306,440 3,266 303 Frozen : 213,077 3,547 216,625 5,159 199 : Total : 2,475,975 47,090 2,523,065 8,425 502 : May 2000 : Chilled : 2,482,008 44,745 2,526,753 3,632 258 Frozen : 232,293 3,309 235,603 5,478 343 : Total : 2,714,301 48,054 2,762,355 9,110 601 : : Jan-May 1999 : Chilled : 11,232,523 214,303 11,446,826 17,371 1,530 Frozen : 1,068,445 16,842 1,085,287 26,923 856 : Total : 12,300,968 231,145 12,532,113 44,294 2,385 : Jan-May 2000 : Chilled : 11,548,596 206,665 11,755,262 18,128 1,346 Frozen : 1,101,536 15,078 1,116,614 28,356 1,538 : Total : 12,650,132 221,744 12,871,876 46,484 2,884 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :---------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Apr 2000 : Chilled : --- 206,227 2,100 208,327 2,379,509 Frozen : --- 207,307 870 208,178 421,074 : Total : --- 413,534 2,970 416,505 2,800,583 : May 1999 : Chilled : 21 190,684 1,514 192,218 2,502,228 Frozen : 146 247,876 603 248,625 470,608 : Total : 166 438,560 2,117 440,843 2,972,835 : May 2000 : Chilled : 5 229,296 2,062 231,364 2,762,007 Frozen : 91 259,399 939 260,429 501,852 : Total : 96 488,695 3,001 491,792 3,263,859 : : Jan-May 1999 : Chilled : 21 959,361 9,654 969,036 12,434,763 Frozen : 146 1,113,659 3,601 1,117,406 2,230,471 : Total : 166 2,073,020 13,255 2,086,442 14,665,234 : Jan-May 2000 : Chilled : 204 1,063,475 10,384 1,074,063 12,848,799 Frozen : 108 1,114,248 4,322 1,118,678 2,265,186 : Total : 313 2,177,723 14,706 2,192,742 15,113,985 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. Totals may not add due to rounding. Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Chickens : : Other :------------------------------------: Ducks : Poultry : Young : Mature : Total : : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Apr 2000 : 10,852 840 11,692 18 4 May 1999 : 12,857 1,075 13,932 16 4 May 2000 : 13,283 1,157 14,440 20 2 : Jan-May 1999 : 68,936 5,876 74,812 81 24 Jan-May 2000 : 65,261 4,982 70,242 98 14 : Percent 2/ : : May 1999 : 0.38 1.38 0.40 0.13 0.46 May 2000 : 0.36 1.45 0.38 0.15 0.19 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Apr 2000 : 42,407 4,826 47,233 259 9 May 1999 : 48,647 4,924 53,572 291 8 May 2000 : 46,731 5,105 51,836 283 11 : Jan-May 1999 : 263,566 23,844 287,410 1,512 32 Jan-May 2000 : 248,089 24,590 272,679 1,434 50 : Percent 3/ : : May 1999 : 1.60 7.00 1.72 2.69 1.07 May 2000 : 1.40 7.13 1.53 2.44 1.21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See footnotes at end of table. -- continued Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, May 2000 with Comparisons 1/ (continued) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Turkeys : :--------------------------------------------: Total : Fryer- : : : Total : Poultry : Roasters : Young : Old : Turkeys : :------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 Pounds Ante-Mortem : (Live Weight) : : Apr 2000 : --- 1,168 52 1,220 12,934 May 1999 : --- 1,319 24 1,343 15,295 May 2000 : --- 1,751 50 1,801 16,263 : Jan-May 1999 : --- 6,811 162 6,974 81,891 Jan-May 2000 : 17 7,260 226 7,502 77,857 : Percent 2/ : : May 1999 : 0.17 0.24 0.87 0.24 0.38 May 2000 : 0.32 0.28 1.24 0.29 0.37 : : 1,000 Pounds Post-Mortem : (N.Y. Dressed Weight) : : Apr 2000 : --- 10,701 342 11,044 58,544 May 1999 : 2 10,539 275 10,816 64,687 May 2000 : 1 12,118 327 12,447 64,576 : Jan-May 1999 : 2 52,699 1,309 54,011 342,965 Jan-May 2000 : 6 58,215 1,401 59,622 333,785 : Percent 3/ : : May 1999 : 0.96 2.10 10.92 2.14 1.78 May 2000 : 1.04 2.17 8.98 2.22 1.63 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. Totals may not add due to rounding. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds (live weight) inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. 3/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AL : 76,339 85,757 391,413 431,599 5.13 5.03 AR : 97,169 102,395 476,223 490,073 4.90 4.79 DE : 23,192 23,918 134,360 140,666 5.79 5.88 FL : 10,603 11,454 57,152 60,634 5.39 5.29 GA : 96,449 103,520 483,626 513,348 5.01 4.96 LA : 12,553 16,108 56,704 70,778 4.52 4.39 MD : 17,150 18,800 82,096 88,719 4.79 4.72 MS : 56,084 65,716 282,515 318,682 5.04 4.85 MO : 30,192 32,510 139,445 146,902 4.62 4.52 NC : 53,179 58,768 310,789 341,866 5.84 5.82 PA : 9,033 10,246 48,742 53,842 5.40 5.26 SC : 19,083 20,038 90,552 102,562 4.75 5.12 TN : 17,914 21,382 87,806 97,378 4.90 4.55 TX : 45,829 54,109 215,224 256,901 4.70 4.75 VA : 31,065 32,005 152,219 155,804 4.90 4.87 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 671,953 744,445 3,384,721 3,695,707 5.04 4.96 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AL : 290,436 310,771 7,552 7,397 2.14 1.90 AR : 343,639 360,622 6,015 5,500 1.40 1.25 DE : 97,632 102,257 2,890 2,501 2.39 1.98 FL : 40,134 41,187 944 968 1.84 1.77 GA : 357,932 374,674 6,889 6,502 1.58 1.41 LA : 39,234 50,134 1,169 602 2.29 0.95 MD : 57,689 62,586 1,339 1,228 1.81 1.54 MS : 209,482 245,201 2,644 2,454 1.04 0.86 MO : 101,592 107,694 1,439 1,840 1.15 1.39 NC : 234,024 258,518 4,786 5,023 1.71 1.63 PA : 34,689 37,599 1,331 1,200 3.04 2.48 SC : 66,604 74,868 1,459 1,937 1.79 2.10 TN : 63,630 70,809 867 762 1.10 0.87 TX : 162,757 201,243 2,402 3,006 1.24 1.30 VA : 105,336 104,756 1,549 1,284 1.13 0.92 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 2,475,975 2,714,301 48,647 46,731 1.60 1.40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : --- 6,213 209,202 254,662 3,478 11,661 AR : --- 4,176 254,095 97,782 --- 4,805 DE : --- 6,854 126,956 63,049 --- --- FL : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- 2,520 154,199 198,442 785 13,375 LA : --- --- 24,472 --- 154 429 MD : --- 10,008 81,232 33,721 61 9,382 MS : --- 1,254 83,964 25,949 505 1,824 MO : --- 2,643 95,288 40,321 2,193 2,315 NC : --- 5,745 159,214 104,001 658 --- PA : --- --- 42,235 24,292 --- --- SC : --- --- 41,401 131,654 134 --- TN : --- 326 46,322 21,250 489 1,140 TX : --- --- 165,292 48,416 956 2,511 VA : --- --- 66,834 27,478 --- --- WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : --- 63,655 1,880,855 1,151,195 29,146 137,663 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AL : 10,912 55,954 52,664 18,142 160,127 783,015 AR : 9,111 28,590 40,225 3,343 109,910 552,037 DE : 2,797 12,113 13,711 --- 51,019 276,499 FL : 1,714 --- 6,545 752 --- 9,011 GA : 10,993 34,329 32,122 9,949 190,113 646,827 LA : --- 5,400 5,396 --- 5,455 41,306 MD : 2,278 19,969 --- 1,135 28,402 186,188 MS : 4,084 12,211 10,874 1,583 57,122 199,370 MO : 2,477 20,135 20,139 4,137 45,674 235,322 NC : 8,426 48,626 38,623 9,921 117,250 492,464 PA : 1,957 3,944 11,861 127 38,808 123,224 SC : 4,933 14,920 14,483 9,602 54,804 271,931 TN : 2,452 16,748 --- 1,220 20,715 110,662 TX : 1,845 13,304 16,052 3,559 23,740 275,675 VA : 1,614 8,920 --- --- 16,461 121,307 WA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 71,619 346,853 369,178 76,097 1,054,450 5,180,711 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 15,389 15,194 78,126 79,557 5.08 5.24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 47,090 48,054 4,924 5,105 7.00 7.13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- --- --- --- --- --- GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 2,682 6,572 350,018 17,588 2,198 141,397 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : CA : --- --- 232 --- --- 232 GA : --- --- --- --- --- --- : US : 45,051 52,245 235,231 1,544 75,575 930,101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Average : Number : Live Weight : Live Weight State : Inspected : Inspected : Inspected 1/ :-----------------------:---------------------------:------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------ 1,000 ------ ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AR : 2,105 2,391 39,854 43,361 18.93 18.14 CA : 1,348 1,592 33,218 42,104 24.64 26.44 IA : 1,416 1,469 42,358 44,557 29.91 30.34 MN : 3,575 3,665 87,707 90,741 24.53 24.76 MO : 1,974 2,310 57,463 64,519 29.11 27.93 NC : 2,718 3,037 67,494 79,918 24.83 26.32 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : 3,038 3,189 66,841 70,775 22.00 22.19 : US : 21,675 23,652 557,661 619,137 25.73 26.18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Average weight based on unrounded data. Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations : Total :----------------------------------------- State : Certified 1/ : N.Y. Dressed Weight : Percent 2/ :-----------------------------:----------------------------------------- : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 : 1999 : 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ------------------ 1,000 Pounds ------------------ -- Percent -- : AR : 32,413 35,881 581 799 1.62 2.05 CA : 27,090 33,519 428 596 1.43 1.57 IA : 32,355 34,808 1,010 1,100 2.65 2.74 MN : 70,389 72,240 2,176 2,287 2.76 2.80 MO : 44,226 51,210 1,205 1,226 2.33 2.11 NC : 51,838 62,903 1,198 1,483 1.97 2.06 PA : --- --- --- --- --- --- VA : 52,237 55,283 924 1,158 1.54 1.82 : US : 438,560 488,695 10,539 12,118 2.10 2.17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of equivalent N.Y. dressed weight of quantity inspected. Percentages based on unrounded data. Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- --- 4,020 --- --- --- CA : --- --- 8,065 --- --- 5 IA : --- --- --- 1,765 --- --- MN : --- --- 15,454 4,048 --- 14 MO : --- --- 15,399 1,928 62 --- NC : --- --- 4,516 --- --- --- PA : --- --- --- 634 55 --- VA : --- --- 4,086 352 --- --- : US : --- 127 80,137 14,309 5,704 68 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : AR : --- 227 --- --- 2,274 6,521 CA : 25 --- --- --- --- 8,095 IA : 77 --- --- --- --- 1,842 MN : 252 670 813 --- 1,309 22,560 MO : --- --- 896 --- --- 18,285 NC : 88 857 --- --- 1,342 6,803 PA : 74 --- --- --- --- 763 VA : 23 1,620 --- --- 1,408 7,489 : US : 977 7,598 10,354 2,350 13,610 135,234 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Old Turkeys (Breeders) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, United States, May 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Tuber- : : : Airsac- : : State : culosis : Leukosis : Septicemia : culitis : Synovitis : Tumors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : --- --- 5,970 840 72 35 :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Contam- : : : : Bruises : Cadaver : ination : Overscald : Other : Total :----------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : US : 21 150 314 --- 771 8,173 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poultry Slaughter Estimates Data Sources: Primary data for commercial poultry slaughter estimates are obtained from the Poultry Inspection Form (FSIS 6000-21) completed by inspectors of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA. This form provides actual counts of birds slaughtered in Federally Inspected (FI) plants. Over 99 percent of the total U.S. slaughter for any species is under FI. The FSIS 6000-21 forms collect number of head slaughtered daily under FI by species and class as well as condemnations and total live and dressed weights. Approximately 350 plants in the U.S. are operated under Federal Inspection. Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late reports received by FSIS from plants and are usually less than one-half of 1 percent of the preliminary totals. Revisions for the previous month and year-to-date totals are published in each monthly release. Final data are published in the annual summary released in April and reflect any late reports or corrections which occurred after the monthly revision were published. Procedures and Reliability: Plant inspectors submit forms (FSIS 6000-21) weekly summarizing the plant's activity. When inconsistencies in the data are detected, the reports are returned to the inspectors for correction. Inspectors correct or validate the report and resubmit it. The reports cover weekly activities through Saturday night and reported data are allocated to the appropriate month as it enters the database. A NASS computer program provides a review of current data with historical data for each plant. An edit provides checks for the detection of errors such as invalid plant information, duplication, and erroneous data. The program also generates a missing reports listing for a telephone follow-up. Data are summarized weekly and accumulated to a monthly total for this release. Major slaughter plants with missing reports are adjusted prior to publication to assure that all plants slaughtering a significant portion of a specific class are accounted for each week. Estimates for missing weeks are made only after verifying that the plant was in operation. Adjustments are based on either the previous week's information or a week determined to be similar to the one missing. Late reports replace imputed data as they become available. While there will continue to be a varying degree of incompleteness from month to month, it is expected to have only a minimal impact on the final totals. Poultry slaughter estimates are based on a census of operating plants and, therefore, have no sampling error. However, they may be subject to errors such as omissions, duplications, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. These errors are minimized through strict quality controls in the edit and summarization process, and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Generally, no State data are published if less than three plants operate for a species in a State, or if one plant has 60 percent or more of the total head for that species. These data are included in the U.S. totals. Definitions Used To Report Federally Inspected Slaughter Ante-Mortem Condemnations - Birds condemned prior to their entry into the slaughter plant. Certified Ready-to-Cook-The weight of poultry certified wholesome by inspection after post-mortem condemnation pounds are removed. Ready-to-cook represents poultry meat ready for the marketing channel. Ducks - Includes all ducks regardless of age and weight. Fryer-Roaster Turkeys - Young immature birds, usually under 16 weeks of age. Mature Chickens - Fowl from breeder and market egg flocks and stags and cocks. New York Dressed Weight - Carcass weight after only feathers and blood are removed. This weight is approximately 90% of live weight. Old Turkeys (Breeders) - Fully matured birds held for egg production, usually over 15 months of age. Other Poultry - Includes all other ready-to-cook products which bear the U.S.D.A. Inspected for Wholesomeness legend. Post-Mortem Condemnations - Carcasses or parts condemned by the inspector because of disease or mishandling and removed from the slaughter line and destroyed. Young Chickens - Commercially grown broilers-fryers and other young immature birds such as roasters and capons. Young Turkeys (Mature) - Young birds grown to a matured market age, about 5 months. Index Page Definitions.............................................................. 17 Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000............................. 12 Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000........................ 11 Mature Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000......... 11 Old Turkeys (Breeders) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, United States, May 2000................................................ 15 Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem and Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, May 2000 with comparisons................................ 6 Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, May 2000 with comparisons................................ 4 Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, May 2000 with comparisons................................ 2 Reliability Statement.................................................... 16 Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000............................. 10 Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000........................ 8 Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000........................ 9 Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, Selected States and United States, May 2000............................. 14 Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000........... 13 Young Turkeys (Mature) Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, Selected States and United States, May 1999-2000........ 13 The next "Poultry Slaughter" report will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET on August 4, 2000. 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