Pou 2-1 (5-07) Poultry Slaughter National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released May 31, 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 Up 2 Percent from Last Year Poultry certified wholesome during April 2007 (ready-to-cook weight) totaled 3.38 billion pounds, up 2 percent from the amount certified in April 2006. The March 2007 revised certified total at 3.44 billion pounds, was down 7 percent from March 2006. The March revision represented an increase of 10 thousand pounds from last month's preliminary pounds certified. The preliminary total live weight of poultry inspected during April 2007 was 4.59 billion pounds, up 4 percent from 4.42 billion pounds a year ago. Young chickens inspected totaled 3.93 billion pounds, up 4 percent from April 2006. Mature chickens, at 61.7 million pounds, were down 4 percent from the previous year. Turkey inspections totaled 584 million pounds, up 7 percent from a year ago. Ducks totaled 15.4 million pounds, down 4 percent from last year. Young chickens slaughtered during April 2007 averaged 5.50 pounds per bird, up 1 percent from April 2006. The average live weight of mature chickens was 5.86 pounds per bird, down 3 percent from a year ago. Turkeys slaughtered during April 2007 averaged 28.6 pounds per bird, up 1 percent from April 2006. Ante-mortem condemnations during April 2007 totaled 14.7 million pounds. Condemnations were 0.32 percent of the live weight inspected, compared with 0.32 percent a year earlier. Post-mortem condemnations, at 45.1 million pounds, were 1.32 percent of quantities inspected, compared with 1.36 percent a year earlier. April 2007 contained 21 weekdays and 4 Saturdays, while April 2006 had 20 weekdays and 5 Saturdays. Poultry Slaughter: Number, Live Weight, and Average Live Weight by Type, United States, April, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Pct of : January : : : : :---------: to Date :Pct Commodity : Apr : Mar : Apr :Apr :Mar :---------------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006:2007: 2006 : 2007 :2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :--------- 1,000 Head -------- Pct ----- 1,000 Head ---- Pct : Number : Slaughtered : : Chickens : Young : 694,231 726,260 713,870 103 98 2,894,910 2,857,695 99 Mature : 10,698 10,914 10,522 98 96 44,990 41,992 93 Light : 4,647 4,992 4,745 102 95 20,200 18,693 93 Heavy : 6,051 5,922 5,777 95 98 24,790 23,299 94 Total : 704,929 737,174 724,392 103 98 2,939,900 2,899,687 99 : Turkeys : Young : 19,141 21,104 20,330 106 96 76,827 81,380 106 Old : 240 148 132 55 89 762 607 80 Total : 19,381 21,252 20,462 106 96 77,589 81,987 106 : Ducks : 2,289 2,382 2,283 100 96 9,304 9,298 100 : : :-------- 1,000 Pounds ------- Pct ---- 1,000 Pounds --- Pct : Live Weight : : Chickens : Young :3,787,424 3,960,780 3,928,135 104 99 15,811,715 15,637,713 99 Mature : 64,476 63,433 61,672 96 97 265,441 246,529 93 Light : 15,512 16,244 15,562 100 96 67,372 61,121 91 Heavy : 48,964 47,189 46,110 94 98 198,069 185,408 94 Total :3,851,900 4,024,213 3,989,807 104 99 16,077,156 15,884,242 99 : Turkeys : Young : 542,249 605,867 580,784 107 96 2,242,412 2,355,401 105 Old : 6,117 3,798 3,548 58 93 20,163 16,168 80 Total : 548,366 609,665 584,332 107 96 2,262,575 2,371,569 105 : Ducks : 15,967 15,939 15,361 96 96 63,540 62,571 98 Other : Poultry 2/: 293 292 315 108 108 1,161 1,224 105 : Total : Poultry :4,416,526 4,650,109 4,589,815 104 99 18,404,432 18,319,606 100 : : : --------- Pounds -------- Pct ---- Pounds ---- Pct : Avg Live : Weight : : Chickens : Young : 5.46 5.45 5.50 101 101 5.46 5.47 100 Mature : 6.03 5.81 5.86 97 101 5.90 5.87 99 Light : 3.34 3.25 3.28 98 101 3.34 3.27 98 Heavy : 8.09 7.97 7.98 99 100 7.99 7.96 100 Total : 5.46 5.46 5.51 101 101 5.47 5.48 100 : Turkeys : Young : 28.33 28.71 28.57 101 100 29.19 28.94 99 Old : 25.49 25.66 26.88 105 105 26.46 26.64 101 Total : 28.29 28.69 28.56 101 100 29.16 28.93 99 : Ducks : 6.98 6.69 6.73 96 101 6.83 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, April, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : : Pct of : January : : : : :---------: to Date : Pct Commodity : Apr : Mar : Apr :Apr :Mar :---------------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006:2007: 2006 : 2007 :2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :-------- 1,000 Pounds ------- Pct ---- 1,000 Pounds --- Pct : Chilled : : Chickens : Young :2,558,446 2,619,863 2,579,078 101 98 10,661,912 10,336,654 97 Mature : 40,128 39,116 38,058 95 97 164,815 152,283 92 Light : 7,876 8,187 8,004 102 98 34,509 31,125 90 Heavy : 32,252 30,929 30,054 93 97 130,306 121,158 93 Total :2,598,574 2,658,979 2,617,136 101 98 10,826,727 10,488,937 97 : Turkeys : Young : 240,667 286,781 260,212 108 91 996,939 1,070,851 107 Old : 3,874 2,654 2,237 58 84 12,686 10,729 85 Total : 244,541 289,435 262,449 107 91 1,009,625 1,081,580 107 : Ducks : 6,043 5,273 5,271 87 100 23,301 21,101 91 Other : Poultry 2/: 151 157 167 111 106 608 653 107 : Total : Poultry :2,849,309 2,953,844 2,885,023 101 98 11,860,261 11,592,271 98 : Frozen : : Chickens : Young : 261,734 283,023 285,032 109 101 1,095,786 1,101,368 101 Mature : 312 344 539 173 157 1,433 1,288 90 Light : 57 99 Heavy : 255 344 539 211 157 1,334 1,288 97 Total : 262,046 283,367 285,571 109 101 1,097,219 1,102,656 100 : Turkeys : Young : 189,663 191,995 199,379 105 104 777,514 789,219 102 Old : 806 246 429 53 174 2,566 1,501 58 Total : 190,469 192,241 199,808 105 104 780,080 790,720 101 : Ducks : 5,395 6,155 5,761 107 94 22,146 23,668 107 Other : Poultry 2/: 29 21 33 114 157 99 101 102 : Total : Poultry : 457,939 481,784 491,173 107 102 1,899,544 1,917,145 101 : Total : Chilled and: Frozen : : Chickens : Young :2,820,180 2,902,886 2,864,110 102 99 11,757,698 11,438,022 97 Mature : 40,440 39,460 38,597 95 98 166,248 153,571 92 Light : 7,933 8,187 8,004 101 98 34,608 31,125 90 Heavy : 32,507 31,273 30,593 94 98 131,640 122,446 93 Total :2,860,620 2,942,346 2,902,707 101 99 11,923,946 11,591,593 97 : Turkeys : Young : 430,330 478,776 459,591 107 96 1,774,453 1,860,070 105 Old : 4,680 2,900 2,666 57 92 15,252 12,230 80 Total : 435,010 481,676 462,257 106 96 1,789,705 1,872,300 105 : Ducks : 11,438 11,428 11,032 96 97 45,447 44,769 99 Other : Poultry 2/: 180 178 200 111 112 707 754 107 : Total : Poultry :3,307,248 3,435,628 3,376,196 102 98 13,759,805 13,509,416 98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Ready-to-cook weights. 2/ Includes geese, guineas, squab, and any other voluntary poultry. Poultry Slaughter: Ante-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, April, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :Percent of : January : : : : :-----------: to Date :Percent Commodity : Apr : Mar : Apr : Apr : Mar :---------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006 :2007 : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :---- 1,000 Pounds ---- Percent 1,000 Pounds Percent : Live Weight : : Chickens : Young :11,425 12,402 12,120 106 98 50,131 52,576 105 Mature : 865 886 779 90 88 3,069 3,575 116 Light : 295 319 215 73 67 947 1,256 133 Heavy : 570 567 564 99 99 2,122 2,319 109 Total :12,290 13,288 12,899 105 97 53,200 56,151 106 : Turkeys : Young : 1,593 1,874 1,683 106 90 6,857 7,526 110 Old : 83 38 62 75 163 231 252 109 Total : 1,676 1,912 1,745 104 91 7,088 7,778 110 : Ducks : 27 30 30 111 100 115 126 110 : Total Poultry :13,993 15,230 14,674 105 96 60,403 64,055 106 : : : Percent : Percent of Live : Weight Condemned 2/: : Chickens : Young : 0.30 0.31 0.31 103 100 0.32 0.34 106 Mature : 1.34 1.40 1.26 94 90 1.16 1.45 125 Light : 1.90 1.96 1.38 73 70 1.41 2.05 145 Heavy : 1.16 1.20 1.22 105 102 1.07 1.25 117 Total : 0.32 0.33 0.32 100 97 0.33 0.35 106 : Turkeys : Young : 0.29 0.31 0.29 100 94 0.31 0.32 103 Old : 1.36 1.00 1.75 129 175 1.15 1.56 136 Total : 0.31 0.31 0.30 97 97 0.31 0.33 106 : Ducks : 0.17 0.19 0.20 118 105 0.18 0.20 111 : Total Poultry : 0.32 0.33 0.32 100 97 0.33 0.35 106 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Federally inspected only. 2/ Pounds condemned as a percent of live weight pounds inspected. Poultry Slaughter: Post-Mortem Condemnations by Type, United States, April, 2006-2007 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : :Percent of : January : : : : :-----------: to Date :Percent Commodity : Apr : Mar : Apr : Apr : Mar :---------------: of : 2006 : 2007 : 2007 :2006 :2007 : 2006 : 2007 : 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :---- 1,000 Pounds ---- Percent 1,000 Pounds Percent : Carcass and Parts : : Chickens : Young :34,190 35,736 33,054 97 92 145,703 138,943 95 Mature : 2,785 2,803 2,843 102 101 11,604 11,417 98 Light : 1,273 1,184 1,152 90 97 5,312 4,709 89 Heavy : 1,512 1,619 1,691 112 104 6,292 6,708 107 Total :36,975 38,539 35,897 97 93 157,307 150,360 96 : Turkeys : Young : 8,078 8,902 8,737 108 98 34,062 34,829 102 Old : 294 199 178 61 89 990 914 92 Total : 8,372 9,101 8,915 106 98 35,052 35,743 102 : Ducks : 396 315 330 83 105 1,636 1,339 82 Other Poultry : 3 3 4 133 133 12 14 117 : Total Poultry :45,746 47,958 45,146 99 94 194,007 187,456 97 : : : Percent : Percent of : Weight Condemned 2/: : Chickens : Young : 1.20 1.22 1.14 95 94 1.22 1.20 98 Mature : 6.44 6.63 6.86 106 103 6.52 6.92 106 Light : 13.83 12.63 12.58 91 100 13.31 13.14 99 Heavy : 4.44 4.92 5.24 118 106 4.56 5.19 114 Total : 1.28 1.29 1.22 96 94 1.30 1.28 98 : Turkeys : Young : 1.84 1.83 1.87 101 102 1.88 1.84 98 Old : 5.91 6.42 6.26 106 97 6.10 6.95 114 Total : 1.89 1.85 1.89 100 102 1.92 1.87 98 : Ducks : 3.35 2.68 2.90 87 108 3.47 2.90 84 Other Poultry : 1.64 1.66 1.96 120 118 1.67 1.82 109 : Total Poultry : 1.36 1.38 1.32 97 96 1.39 1.37 98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : : Average : Slaughtered : Live Weight : Live Weight State :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : ---- 1,000 Head --- ---- 1,000 Pounds ---- --- Pounds --- : AL : 85,195 84,723 467,352 468,996 5.49 5.54 AR : 93,131 91,349 485,345 477,175 5.21 5.22 DE : 25,127 24,656 166,508 166,755 6.63 6.76 GA : 107,320 105,144 563,822 557,873 5.25 5.31 KY : 24,697 24,211 133,513 136,228 5.41 5.63 LA : 15,406 15,631 89,601 90,970 5.82 5.82 MD : 11,117 11,002 53,437 52,593 4.81 4.78 MS : 64,758 64,002 354,671 350,828 5.48 5.48 MO : 34,954 33,943 160,425 159,884 4.59 4.71 NC : 58,743 55,975 399,853 382,835 6.81 6.84 OH : 3,974 3,964 22,032 22,196 5.54 5.60 PA : 10,297 9,308 55,658 51,734 5.41 5.56 SC : 23,996 23,035 148,016 145,437 6.17 6.31 TN : 22,721 21,645 114,364 109,869 5.03 5.08 TX : 52,286 51,785 269,908 273,497 5.16 5.28 VA : 25,935 24,215 133,419 125,042 5.14 5.16 : Oth Sts : 66,603 69,282 342,856 356,223 5.15 5.14 : US : 726,260 713,870 3,960,780 3,928,135 5.45 5.50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Chickens Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations by State and United States, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations :Total Chilled and Frozen :------------------------------------------- State : Pounds Certified 1/ : Carcass and Parts : Percent 2/ :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --------------- 1,000 Pounds --------------- --- Percent --- : AL : 345,054 343,178 3,765 3,577 1.08 1.03 AR : 348,198 342,651 4,675 4,236 1.32 1.22 DE : 119,863 119,811 2,064 1,912 1.69 1.57 GA : 418,044 410,671 4,689 4,028 1.11 0.97 KY : 95,768 100,409 1,085 1,244 1.12 1.22 LA : 65,875 66,805 422 339 0.64 0.50 MD : 38,907 38,272 608 554 1.54 1.43 MS : 252,614 238,597 3,015 2,695 1.18 1.12 MO : 117,746 117,798 1,470 1,279 1.23 1.07 NC : 305,191 291,033 4,166 3,879 1.35 1.32 OH : 16,215 16,427 394 300 2.37 1.79 PA : 37,770 34,786 1,059 979 2.73 2.74 SC : 108,866 106,944 943 1,000 0.86 0.93 TN : 82,329 79,287 1,051 945 1.26 1.18 TX : 206,858 208,946 2,284 2,219 1.09 1.05 VA : 93,218 87,428 821 724 0.87 0.82 : Oth Sts : 250,370 261,067 3,225 3,144 1.27 1.19 : US : 2,902,886 2,864,110 35,736 33,054 1.22 1.14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Tuberculosis : Leukosis : Septicaemia :------------------------------------------------------------------ : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : * * 77,757 76,751 AR : * 497 169,236 141,283 DE : 1,812 1,345 92,679 81,298 GA : 471 429 90,311 82,907 KY : * * 44,907 40,726 LA : 33 35 14,754 10,566 MD : * * * 20,172 MS : * * 46,114 38,745 MO : 437 380 88,016 79,637 NC : * * 90,355 76,875 OH : * * 11,116 9,093 PA : 30 44 24,519 20,894 SC : * * * * TN : 84 48 51,141 47,387 TX : 57 66 53,129 55,391 VA : * * 30,601 28,630 : Oth Sts : 3,262 3,927 234,134 219,829 : US : 6,186 6,771 1,118,769 1,030,184 : Mature : Light : 1,764 2,378 148,334 160,829 Heavy : 429 300 39,388 40,395 : US : 2,193 2,678 187,722 201,224 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Airsacculitis : Synovitis : Tumors :------------------------------------------------------------------ : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 89,099 63,330 763 758 * * AR : 46,630 36,320 1,688 1,545 3,028 2,436 DE : 48,767 45,790 * * 8,773 * GA : 243,246 125,810 246 454 7,285 6,976 KY : * * * * * * LA : 7,783 4,892 * * 370 244 MD : * * 43 25 * * MS : * 33,989 165 * 989 724 MO : 17,637 14,087 294 265 1,752 1,424 NC : 61,647 46,174 * 156 * * OH : * * * * 132 181 PA : 18,429 14,382 * * 441 251 SC : * * 46 73 * * TN : 30,325 19,285 * * 579 478 TX : 24,066 19,776 * * 1,164 888 VA : 17,597 13,928 29 25 * * : Oth Sts : 176,154 96,754 2,224 1,744 39,888 38,446 : US : 781,380 534,517 5,498 5,045 64,401 52,048 : Mature : Light : 21,580 32,261 180 187 70,462 62,400 Heavy : 2,150 1,800 58 70 6,108 5,684 : US : 23,730 34,061 238 257 76,570 68,084 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Bruises : Cadaver : Contamination :------------------------------------------------------------------ : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 1,968 2,245 7,478 8,309 8,300 9,612 AR : 4,484 4,032 11,573 11,635 23,544 29,552 DE : 1,705 1,945 4,521 4,791 6,821 6,673 GA : 2,057 1,810 25,974 25,193 11,725 12,008 KY : 169 198 4,793 4,184 * 4,838 LA : 201 187 2,380 2,393 737 902 MD : * * 1,929 1,799 * * MS : 1,391 1,354 4,073 4,089 5,321 5,412 MO : 1,125 1,067 3,627 * 12,919 9,608 NC : 2,160 1,906 20,785 18,079 14,977 13,992 OH : 121 93 1,763 1,147 378 418 PA : 696 563 2,267 1,727 4,451 4,182 SC : 427 * 2,894 2,869 1,700 1,248 TN : 621 564 3,535 4,471 4,158 4,142 TX : 562 669 4,199 4,060 7,093 8,341 VA : 1,133 838 3,210 2,841 3,832 4,113 : Oth Sts : 3,193 3,620 13,622 15,798 38,922 30,111 : US : 22,013 21,091 118,623 113,385 144,878 145,152 : Mature : Light : 13,656 14,924 2,835 2,069 88,826 86,341 Heavy : 837 736 6,781 6,588 8,974 10,185 : US : 14,493 15,660 9,616 8,657 97,800 96,526 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State : Overscald : Other : Total 1/ :------------------------------------------------------------------ : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Young : AL : 5,763 10,219 150,490 132,832 345,930 307,830 AR : * 7,878 87,191 96,634 364,108 331,812 DE : * 1,435 39,317 35,391 210,421 186,826 GA : 6,201 8,053 119,490 103,930 507,006 367,570 KY : * * * * * * LA : * 54 * * 29,025 20,976 MD : 265 * * * * * MS : 682 761 97,569 86,911 221,220 172,325 MO : 177 * 89,438 76,561 215,422 187,598 NC : 10,244 9,011 79,128 77,500 296,977 256,102 OH : * * * * * PA : * * 11,073 9,046 62,898 51,658 SC : 3,830 * 36,269 * 70,720 70,340 TN : * * 13,486 7,843 106,189 85,706 TX : * * 38,263 43,011 130,435 134,230 VA : * 434 16,571 16,986 79,646 70,135 : Oth Sts : 36,018 13,133 244,470 285,419 707,686 688,127 : US : 63,180 50,978 1,022,755 972,064 3,347,683 2,931,235 : Mature : Light : 486 238 82,618 62,971 430,741 424,598 Heavy : 661 2,344 91,989 87,561 157,375 155,663 : US : 1,147 2,582 174,607 150,532 588,116 580,261 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *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, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number : : Average : Slaughtered : Live Weight : Live Weight State :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : --- 1,000 Head --- --- 1,000 Pounds --- ---- Pounds --- : AR : 2,933 2,775 56,639 55,478 19.31 19.99 MN : 2,836 2,760 79,420 75,329 28.00 27.30 MO : 1,360 1,348 42,205 42,769 31.04 31.73 : Oth Sts : 13,975 13,447 427,603 407,208 30.60 30.28 : US : 21,104 20,330 605,867 580,784 28.71 28.57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Young Turkeys Slaughtered: Pounds Certified and Post-Mortem Condemnations, by State and United States, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : Post-Mortem Condemnations :Total Chilled and Frozen :------------------------------------------- State : Pounds Certified 1/ : Carcass and Parts : Percent 2/ :--------------------------------------------------------------------- : March : April : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : -------------- 1,000 Pounds -------------- --- Percent --- : AR : 46,197 44,701 1,078 879 2.28 1.93 MN : 63,149 60,005 1,409 1,451 2.18 2.36 MO : 33,181 33,604 723 719 2.13 2.09 : Oth Sts : 336,249 321,281 5,692 5,688 1.66 1.74 : US : 478,776 459,591 8,902 8,737 1.83 1.87 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, March 2007-April 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Young : Old :----------------------------------------------------------- Cause : March : April : March : April -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Number of Head : Tuberculosis : Leukosis : 17 35 Septicaemia : 69,534 65,915 1,699 1,185 Airsacculitis : 11,817 9,966 374 362 Synovitis : 4,172 4,107 15 1 Tumors : 58 101 159 171 Bruises : 392 380 10 32 Cadaver : 2,403 2,296 28 23 Contamination : 2,867 2,758 57 83 Overscald : 1,825 1,380 39 2 Other : 25,367 27,461 813 829 : Total : 118,452 114,399 3,194 2,688 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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