THE UK’s broiler sector set a new record in January, with the highest output of chicken recorded in a single month.

Total production in January, at 185,000 tonnes, was just ahead of the previous high set in July last year, which came to 184,800 tonnes.

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The January total was also substantially higher than the same month a year earlier by 5,600 tonnes, or 3.1%.

These higher levels of production look set to continue, after day-old chick placings also got off to a good start in the New Year.

Broiler placings have maintained their strong run, which began last October, and recorded an increase of 4m in January compared with the same month last year, according to the latest Defra figures.

Higher placings

This marks the fourth consecutive month of significantly higher placings, amounting to an overall year-on-year increase of nearly 22m birds.

The average rate of expansion throughout the October-January period was 5.7%, reaching a total of 405m chicks.

If the broiler sector achieves overall growth of more than 1.5% this year compared with 2024, it will pass the previous record for chicks placed in a year of 1187m, set in 2021. The obvious potential limiting factor would be the mass adoption of 30kg/sq m curtailing the growing space available to the sector.

After steadily losing ground in 2024, the turkey sector also started the year with a positive trend. Poult placings in January rose by 56,000 year-on-year, an increase of 8.7 per cent.