Poultry certified wholesome during October totaled 4.05 billion lbs., a 2 percent increase from a year ago, the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported.
The preliminary live weight total of all federally inspected poultry increased 2 percent to 5.35 billion lbs., NASS said. Young chickens totaled 4.61 billion lbs., up 4 percent from a year ago, while mature chickens totaled 73.3 million lbs. a 6 percent increase from October 2012.
The revised total for September 2013 was 3.60 billion lbs., up 5 percent from a year ago. The September revision represented an increase of 839,000 lbs. from last month's preliminary pounds certified, NASS reported.
The weight of young chickens slaughtered in October averaged 6 lbs. per bird, up 1 percent from a year ago, according to NASS. The average live weight of mature chickens slaughtered increased 2 percent to 5.92 lbs. per bird.
Turkey inspections declined 11 percent to 646 million lbs., and ducks climbed 6 percent to 15.1 million lbs. Turkeys slaughtered during October averaged 29.9 lbs. per bird, a 3 percent increase from a year ago.
Ante-mortem condemnations for October totaled 10.7 million lbs., according to NASS. Condemnations were 0.20 percent of the live weight inspected compared to 0.19 percent in 2012. Post-mortem condemnations totaled 37.3 million lbs. Post-mortem condemnation were 0.91 percent of quantities inspected, as compared with 0.87 percent a year ago.
