Pou 2-1 (4-07) Poultry Slaughter National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released April 30, 2007, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Poultry Slaughter" call Fleming Gibson at 202-690-3237, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Ready-to-Cook Weight Down 7 Percent from Last Year Poultry certified wholesome during March 2007 (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 3.44 billion pounds, down 7 percent from the amount certified in March 2006. February 2007 revised certified total at 3.15 billion pounds, was down 2 percent from February 2006. The February revision represented an increase of 765 thousand pounds from last month's preliminary pounds certified. The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during March 2007 was 4.65 billion pounds, down 6 percent from 4.94 billion pounds a year ago. Young chickens inspected totaled 3.96 billion pounds, down 6 percent from March 2006. Mature chickens, at 63.4 million pounds, were down 11 percent from the previous year. Turkey inspections totaled 610 million pounds, down 2 percent from a year ago. Ducks totaled 15.9 million pounds, down 7 percent from last year. Young chickens slaughtered during March 2007 averaged 5.45 pounds per bird, up slightly from March 2006. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.81 pounds per bird, down 5 percent from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during March 2007 averaged 28.7 pounds per bird, up slightly from March 2006. Ante-mortem condemnations during March 2007 totaled 15.2 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.33 percent of the live weight inspected, unchanged from last year. Post-mortem condemnations, at 48.0 million pounds, were 1.38 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.40 percent a year earlier. March 2007 contained 22 weekdays and 5 Saturdays, while March 2006 had 23 weekdays and 4 Saturdays. Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, March, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Pct of : January : : : : :---------: to Date :Pct Commodity : Mar : Feb : Mar :Mar :Feb :---------------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006:2007: 2006 : 2007 :2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :--------- 1,000 Head -------- Pct ----- 1,000 Head ---- Pct : Number : Slaughtered : : Chickens : Young : 777,546 667,643 726,260 93 109 2,200,679 2,143,825 97 Mature : 11,617 9,828 10,914 94 111 34,292 31,470 92 Light : 4,624 4,322 4,992 108 116 15,553 13,948 90 Heavy : 6,993 5,506 5,922 85 108 18,739 17,522 94 Total : 789,163 677,471 737,174 93 109 2,234,971 2,175,295 97 : Turkeys : Young : 21,544 19,381 21,104 98 109 57,686 61,050 106 Old : 202 133 148 73 111 522 475 91 Total : 21,746 19,514 21,252 98 109 58,208 61,525 106 : Ducks : 2,520 2,163 2,382 95 110 7,015 7,015 100 : : :-------- 1,000 Pounds ------- Pct ---- 1,000 Pounds --- Pct : Live Weight : : Chickens : Young :4,232,102 3,627,137 3,960,780 94 109 12,024,291 11,709,578 97 Mature : 71,360 58,121 63,433 89 109 200,965 184,857 92 Light : 15,357 14,139 16,244 106 115 51,860 45,559 88 Heavy : 56,003 43,982 47,189 84 107 149,105 139,298 93 Total :4,303,462 3,685,258 4,024,213 94 109 12,225,256 11,894,435 97 : Turkeys : Young : 615,810 559,188 605,867 98 108 1,700,163 1,774,617 104 Old : 5,493 3,637 3,798 69 104 14,046 12,620 90 Total : 621,303 562,825 609,665 98 108 1,714,209 1,787,237 104 : Ducks : 17,162 14,595 15,939 93 109 47,573 47,210 99 Other : Poultry 2/: 312 276 292 94 106 868 909 105 : Total : Poultry :4,942,239 4,262,954 4,650,109 94 109 13,987,906 13,729,791 98 : : : --------- Pounds -------- Pct ---- Pounds ---- Pct : Avg Live : Weight : : Chickens : Young : 5.44 5.43 5.45 100 100 5.46 5.46 100 Mature : 6.14 5.91 5.81 95 98 5.86 5.87 100 Light : 3.32 3.27 3.25 98 99 3.33 3.27 98 Heavy : 8.01 7.99 7.97 100 100 7.96 7.95 100 Total : 5.45 5.44 5.46 100 100 5.47 5.47 100 : Turkeys : Young : 28.58 28.85 28.71 100 100 29.47 29.07 99 Old : 27.19 27.35 25.66 94 94 26.91 26.57 99 Total : 28.57 28.84 28.69 100 99 29.45 29.05 99 : Ducks : 6.81 6.75 6.69 98 99 6.78 6.73 99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. 2/ Includes geese, guineas, ostriches, emus, rheas, squab, and any other voluntary poultry. Poultry Slaughter: Chilled and Frozen, Pounds Certified by Type, United States, March, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Pct of : January : : : : :---------: to Date : Pct Commodity : Mar : Feb : Mar :Mar :Feb :---------------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006:2007: 2006 : 2007 :2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :-------- 1,000 Pounds ------- Pct ---- 1,000 Pounds --- Pct : Chilled : : Chickens : Young :2,850,528 2,402,340 2,619,853 92 109 8,103,466 7,757,566 96 Mature : 45,051 36,077 39,116 87 108 124,687 114,225 92 Light : 8,017 7,206 8,187 102 114 26,633 23,121 87 Heavy : 37,034 28,871 30,929 84 107 98,054 91,104 93 Total :2,895,579 2,438,417 2,658,969 92 109 8,228,153 7,871,791 96 : Turkeys : Young : 278,362 250,600 286,781 103 114 756,272 810,639 107 Old : 3,404 2,403 2,654 78 110 8,812 8,492 96 Total : 281,766 253,003 289,435 103 114 765,084 819,131 107 : Ducks : 6,224 4,897 5,273 85 108 17,258 15,830 92 Other : Poultry 2/: 163 149 157 96 105 457 486 106 : Total : Poultry :3,183,732 2,696,466 2,953,834 93 110 9,010,952 8,707,238 97 : Frozen : : Chickens : Young : 294,381 253,381 283,023 96 112 834,052 816,336 98 Mature : 481 210 344 72 164 1,121 749 67 Light : 40 42 Heavy : 441 210 344 78 164 1,079 749 69 Total : 294,862 253,591 283,367 96 112 835,173 817,085 98 : Turkeys : Young : 209,530 192,076 191,995 92 100 587,851 589,840 100 Old : 703 350 246 35 70 1,760 1,072 61 Total : 210,233 192,426 192,241 91 100 589,611 590,912 100 : Ducks : 6,031 5,530 6,155 102 111 16,751 17,907 107 Other : Poultry 2/: 28 22 21 75 95 70 68 97 : Total : Poultry : 511,154 451,569 481,784 94 107 1,441,605 1,425,972 99 : Total : Chilled and: Frozen : : Chickens : Young :3,144,909 2,655,721 2,902,876 92 109 8,937,518 8,573,902 96 Mature : 45,532 36,287 39,460 87 109 125,808 114,974 91 Light : 8,057 7,206 8,187 102 114 26,675 23,121 87 Heavy : 37,475 29,081 31,273 83 108 99,133 91,853 93 Total :3,190,441 2,692,008 2,942,336 92 109 9,063,326 8,688,876 96 : Turkeys : Young : 487,892 442,676 478,776 98 108 1,344,123 1,400,479 104 Old : 4,107 2,753 2,900 71 105 10,572 9,564 90 Total : 491,999 445,429 481,676 98 108 1,354,695 1,410,043 104 : Ducks : 12,255 10,427 11,428 93 110 34,009 33,737 99 Other : Poultry 2/: 191 171 178 93 104 527 554 105 : Total : Poultry :3,694,886 3,148,035 3,435,618 93 109 10,452,557 10,133,210 97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Includes geese, guineas, squab, and any other voluntary poultry. Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, March, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :Percent of : January : : : : :-----------: to Date :Percent Commodity : Mar : Feb : Mar : Mar : Feb :---------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006 :2007 : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :---- 1,000 Pounds ---- Percent 1,000 Pounds Percent : Live Weight : : Chickens : Young :13,382 13,783 12,402 93 90 38,706 40,456 105 Mature : 794 1,055 886 112 84 2,204 2,796 127 Light : 190 457 319 168 70 652 1,041 160 Heavy : 604 598 567 94 95 1,552 1,755 113 Total :14,176 14,838 13,288 94 90 40,910 43,252 106 : Turkeys : Young : 1,905 2,025 1,874 98 93 5,264 5,843 111 Old : 77 48 38 49 79 148 190 128 Total : 1,982 2,073 1,912 96 92 5,412 6,033 111 : Ducks : 32 31 30 94 97 88 96 109 : Total Poultry :16,190 16,942 15,230 94 90 46,410 49,381 106 : : : Percent : Percent of Live : Weight Condemned 2/: : Chickens : Young : 0.32 0.38 0.31 97 82 0.32 0.35 109 Mature : 1.11 1.82 1.40 126 77 1.10 1.51 137 Light : 1.24 3.23 1.96 158 61 1.26 2.28 181 Heavy : 1.08 1.36 1.20 111 88 1.04 1.26 121 Total : 0.33 0.40 0.33 100 83 0.33 0.36 109 : Turkeys : Young : 0.31 0.36 0.31 100 86 0.31 0.33 106 Old : 1.40 1.32 1.00 71 76 1.05 1.51 144 Total : 0.32 0.37 0.31 97 84 0.32 0.34 106 : Ducks : 0.19 0.21 0.19 100 90 0.18 0.20 111 : Total Poultry : 0.33 0.40 0.33 100 83 0.33 0.36 109 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. 2/ Pounds condemned as a percent of live weight pounds inspected. Poultry Slaughter: Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, March, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :Percent of : January : : : : :-----------: to Date :Percent Commodity : Mar : Feb : Mar : Mar : Feb :---------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006 :2007 : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :---- 1,000 Pounds ---- Percent 1,000 Pounds Percent : Carcass and Parts : : Chickens : Young :39,283 34,679 35,736 91 103 111,513 105,889 95 Mature : 3,005 2,901 2,803 93 97 8,819 8,574 97 Light : 1,134 1,191 1,184 104 99 4,039 3,557 88 Heavy : 1,871 1,710 1,619 87 95 4,780 5,017 105 Total :42,288 37,580 38,539 91 103 120,332 114,463 95 : Turkeys : Young : 9,405 8,438 8,902 95 105 25,984 26,092 100 Old : 275 214 199 72 93 696 736 106 Total : 9,680 8,652 9,101 94 105 26,680 26,828 101 : Ducks : 440 307 315 72 103 1,240 1,009 81 Other Poultry : 3 3 3 100 100 9 10 111 : Total Poultry :52,411 46,542 47,958 92 103 148,261 142,310 96 : : : Percent : Percent of : Weight Condemned 2/: : Chickens : Young : 1.23 1.29 1.22 99 94 1.23 1.22 99 Mature : 6.19 7.40 6.63 107 90 6.55 6.94 106 Light : 12.34 14.18 12.63 102 89 13.15 13.33 101 Heavy : 4.76 5.55 4.92 104 89 4.60 5.18 113 Total : 1.31 1.38 1.29 99 94 1.31 1.30 99 : Turkeys : Young : 1.89 1.87 1.83 97 98 1.90 1.83 96 Old : 6.28 7.21 6.42 102 89 6.18 7.15 116 Total : 1.93 1.91 1.85 96 97 1.93 1.87 97 : Ducks : 3.47 2.86 2.68 77 94 3.52 2.90 83 Other Poultry : 1.55 1.72 1.66 107 96 1.68 1.77 106 : Total Poultry : 1.40 1.46 1.38 98 94 1.40 1.38 99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. 2/ Pounds condemned as a percent of pounds certified plus post-mortem condemnations. Young Chickens Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : : Average : Slaughtered : Live Weight : Live Weight State :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : February : March : February : March :February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- 1,000 Head --- ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AL : 80,385 85,195 442,780 467,352 5.51 5.49 AR : 85,545 93,131 443,282 485,345 5.18 5.21 DE : 22,830 25,127 149,858 166,508 6.56 6.63 GA : 100,056 107,320 516,524 563,822 5.16 5.25 KY : 21,674 24,697 116,036 133,513 5.35 5.41 LA : 14,482 15,406 84,406 89,601 5.83 5.82 MD : 10,506 11,117 47,849 53,437 4.55 4.81 MS : 58,415 64,758 325,888 354,671 5.58 5.48 MO : 31,240 34,954 143,997 160,425 4.61 4.59 NC : 52,884 58,743 357,600 399,853 6.76 6.81 OH : 3,600 3,974 19,798 22,032 5.50 5.54 PA : 9,104 10,297 48,913 55,658 5.37 5.41 SC : 21,881 23,996 136,175 148,016 6.22 6.17 TN : 20,020 22,721 99,177 114,364 4.95 5.03 TX : 47,976 52,286 249,576 269,908 5.20 5.16 VA : 23,293 25,935 120,484 133,419 5.17 5.14 : Oth Sts : 63,752 66,603 324,794 342,856 5.09 5.15 : US : 667,643 726,260 3,627,137 3,960,780 5.43 5.45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations :Total Chilled and Frozen :------------------------------------------- State : Pounds Certified 1/ : Carcass and Parts : Percent 2/ :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------------- 1,000 Pounds --------------- --- Percent --- : AL : 325,975 345,054 4,199 3,765 1.27 1.08 AR : 318,051 348,198 4,656 4,675 1.44 1.32 DE : 107,866 119,863 2,037 2,064 1.85 1.69 GA : 381,833 418,044 4,410 4,689 1.14 1.11 KY : 83,359 95,768 895 1,085 1.06 1.12 LA : 61,835 65,875 368 422 0.59 0.64 MD : 34,819 38,907 657 608 1.85 1.54 MS : 232,708 252,614 2,893 3,015 1.23 1.18 MO : 105,977 117,746 1,295 1,470 1.21 1.23 NC : 273,881 305,181 3,890 4,166 1.40 1.35 OH : 14,569 16,215 322 394 2.16 2.37 PA : 33,301 37,770 827 1,059 2.42 2.73 SC : 100,069 108,866 945 943 0.94 0.86 TN : 71,617 82,329 850 1,051 1.17 1.26 TX : 190,108 206,858 2,191 2,284 1.14 1.09 VA : 84,142 93,218 879 821 1.03 0.87 : Oth Sts : 235,611 250,370 3,365 3,225 1.41 1.27 : US : 2,655,721 2,902,876 34,679 35,736 1.29 1.22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds certified plus post-mortem condemnations. Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, by Type, by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Tuberculosis : Leukosis : Septicaemia :------------------------------------------------------------------ : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 119 * 85,329 77,757 AR : * * 177,404 169,236 DE : 2,231 1,812 95,754 92,679 GA : 670 471 89,897 90,311 KY : * * 35,910 44,907 LA : * 33 13,407 14,754 MD : * * * * MS : * * 51,751 46,114 MO : * 437 84,621 88,016 NC : * * 86,194 90,355 OH : * * 7,063 11,116 PA : 48 30 21,995 24,519 SC : * * 11,337 * TN : 161 84 46,316 51,141 TX : * 57 56,212 53,129 VA : * * 32,165 30,601 : Oth Sts : 3,929 3,262 239,022 234,134 : US : 7,158 6,186 1,134,377 1,118,769 : Mature : Light : 1,481 1,764 136,037 148,334 Heavy : 308 429 40,005 39,388 : US : 1,789 2,193 176,042 187,722 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Airsacculitis : Synovitis : Tumors :------------------------------------------------------------------ : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 113,410 89,099 676 763 3,646 * AR : 64,083 46,630 2,328 1,688 2,980 3,028 DE : 50,563 48,767 * * 10,433 8,773 GA : 217,336 243,246 473 246 6,988 7,285 KY : 17,347 * * * * * LA : 7,127 7,783 * * 471 370 MD : * * 41 43 * * MS : 49,436 * 112 165 925 989 MO : 16,792 17,637 470 294 1,882 1,752 NC : 66,482 61,647 69 * * * OH : 2,601 * 7 * 150 132 PA : 15,417 18,429 * * 337 441 SC : * * * 46 * * TN : 23,111 30,325 * * 605 579 TX : 28,257 24,066 85 * 1,119 1,164 VA : 22,732 17,597 * 29 * * : Oth Sts : 98,444 176,154 1,763 2,224 37,046 39,888 : US : 793,138 781,380 6,024 5,498 66,582 64,401 : Mature : Light : 27,294 21,580 223 180 61,149 70,462 Heavy : 2,094 2,150 59 58 5,239 6,108 : US : 29,388 23,730 282 238 66,388 76,570 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Included in "Other States" to avoid disclosure of individual operations. Chickens Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, by Type, by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Bruises : Cadaver : Contamination :------------------------------------------------------------------ : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 1,812 1,968 7,792 7,478 7,912 8,300 AR : 4,008 4,484 14,762 11,573 23,548 23,544 DE : 1,288 1,705 5,090 4,521 5,538 6,821 GA : 1,910 2,057 32,141 25,974 12,227 11,725 KY : 210 169 4,323 4,793 4,550 * LA : 192 201 2,460 2,380 948 737 MD : * * 2,998 1,929 * * MS : 1,566 1,391 4,643 4,073 4,154 5,321 MO : 881 1,125 5,832 3,627 8,962 12,919 NC : 1,801 2,160 18,576 20,785 14,881 14,977 OH : * 121 2,177 1,763 301 378 PA : 825 696 2,071 2,267 5,328 4,451 SC : * 427 2,282 2,894 * 1,700 TN : 498 621 3,863 3,535 3,142 4,158 TX : 595 562 6,513 4,199 6,130 7,093 VA : 968 1,133 3,117 3,210 3,920 3,832 : Oth Sts : 3,700 3,193 14,794 13,622 30,452 38,922 : US : 20,254 22,013 133,434 118,623 131,993 144,878 : Mature : Light : 12,951 13,656 2,496 2,835 73,846 88,826 Heavy : 842 837 5,517 6,781 9,317 8,974 : US : 13,793 14,493 8,013 9,616 83,163 97,800 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Overscald : Other : Total 1/ :------------------------------------------------------------------ : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 9,591 5,763 164,102 150,490 394,389 345,930 AR : * * 102,683 87,191 400,440 364,108 DE : * * * 39,317 220,389 210,421 GA : 8,105 6,201 114,288 119,490 484,035 507,006 KY : * * 47,360 * 117,244 * LA : 39 * 1,571 * 26,323 29,025 MD : * 265 * * * * MS : * 682 93,672 97,569 207,531 221,220 MO : * 177 65,803 89,438 187,809 215,422 NC : 6,895 10,244 69,830 79,128 281,959 296,977 OH : * * * * * PA : * * 10,475 11,073 57,324 62,898 SC : 2,803 3,830 42,789 36,269 76,400 70,720 TN : * * 5,360 13,486 84,388 106,189 TX : * * 51,913 38,263 152,794 130,435 VA : * * 21,352 16,571 90,373 79,646 : Oth Sts : 32,666 36,018 228,937 244,470 591,796 707,686 : US : 60,099 63,180 1,020,135 1,022,755 3,373,194 3,347,683 : Mature : Light : 444 486 105,499 82,618 421,420 430,741 Heavy : 199 661 87,753 91,989 151,333 157,375 : US : 643 1,147 193,252 174,607 572,753 588,116 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Included in "Other States" to avoid disclosure of individual operations. 1/ The sum of the individual diseases does not add to total for "Other States." Young Turkeys Slaughtered: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight, by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : : Average : Slaughtered : Live Weight : Live Weight State :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : February : March : February : March :February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --- 1,000 Head --- --- 1,000 Pounds --- ---- Pounds --- : AR : 2,866 2,933 54,081 56,639 18.87 19.31 MN : 2,655 2,836 71,357 79,420 26.87 28.00 MO : 1,332 1,360 42,556 42,205 31.94 31.04 : Oth Sts : 12,528 13,975 391,194 427,603 31.23 30.60 : US : 19,381 21,104 559,188 605,867 28.85 28.71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Turkeys Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, by State and United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations :Total Chilled and Frozen :------------------------------------------- State : Pounds Certified 1/ : Carcass and Parts : Percent 2/ :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : February : March : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------------- 1,000 Pounds -------------- --- Percent --- : AR : 44,375 46,197 871 1,078 1.93 2.28 MN : 56,877 63,149 1,328 1,409 2.28 2.18 MO : 33,371 33,181 738 723 2.16 2.13 : Oth Sts : 308,053 336,249 5,501 5,692 1.75 1.66 : US : 442,676 478,776 8,438 8,902 1.87 1.83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Pounds condemned as percent of pounds certified plus post-mortem condemnations. Turkeys Slaughtered: Number Condemned Post-Mortem by Cause, by Type, United States, February 2007-March 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Young : Old :----------------------------------------------------------- Cause : February : March : February : March -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Tuberculosis : Leukosis : 48 17 Septicaemia : 69,384 69,534 1,258 1,699 Airsacculitis : 9,273 11,817 267 374 Synovitis : 3,934 4,172 4 15 Tumors : 80 58 115 159 Bruises : 441 392 16 10 Cadaver : 2,755 2,403 28 28 Contamination : 2,931 2,867 129 57 Overscald : 1,418 1,825 3 39 Other : 20,941 25,367 2,889 813 : Total : 111,205 118,452 4,709 3,194 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reliability of Poultry Slaughter Estimates Data Sources: Data for poultry slaughter estimates are collected by inspectors of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), USDA for all Federally Inspected (FI) plants. Over 99 percent of the total U.S. slaughter for any species is under FI. The number of head slaughtered daily, by species and class, as well as condemnations and total live and dressed weights are obtained by shift for each plant. Approximately 305 plants slaughtered poultry in the U.S. under Federal Inspection in 2006. Young chickens were slaughter in 35 States, young turkeys in 26 States. 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 February and reflect any late reports or corrections which occurred after the monthly revisions were published. Procedures and Reliability: Plant inspectors submit data electronically for each shift a plant operates. An edit provides checks for the detection of errors such as invalid plant information, duplication, and erroneous data. Data are accumulated to monthly totals for this release. Data for 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 included. Estimates for missing shifts are made only after verifying that the plant was in operation. Adjustments are based on a shift determined to be similar to the one missing. Late reports replace imputed data as they become available. While there is a varying degree of incompleteness from month to month, it has only a minimal impact on the published 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. State data are published using selected States for young chickens and young turkeys. Data for all States not published are included in the "Other States" category. Also included in this category are data for published States that are confidential (denoted by an *). Data for all States are included in the U.S. totals. Terms and Definitions Used for Poultry Slaughter Estimates: 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. Included with young turkeys. Mature Chickens - Fowl from breeder and market egg flocks and stags and cocks. Old Turkeys - Fully matured birds held for egg production, usually over 15 months of age. Other Poultry Chilled or Frozen - Includes all other ready-to-cook products which bear the USDA 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 - Young birds grown to a matured market age, about 5 months. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch(202) 720-3570 Darin Jantzi, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section(202) 720-3570 David Colwell - Cold Storage(202) 720-8784 Fleming Gibson - Egg Products, Poultry Slaughter, Catfish Processing, Mink . .(202) 690-3237 Darin Jantzi - Layers, Eggs(202) 720-3570 Sharyn Lavender - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey(202) 720-3244 Toby Paterson - Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised(202) 720-0585 ACCESS TO REPORTS!! For your convenience, there are several ways to obtain NASS reports, data products, and services: INTERNET ACCESS All NASS reports are available free of charge on the worldwide Internet. For access, connect to the Internet and go to the NASS Home Page at: www.nass.usda.gov. E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION All NASS reports are available by subscription free of charge direct to your e-mail address. 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