UK poultry flock rebounds in 2024 as egg volumes pick up

There are currently about 40 million laying hens in the UK, according to NFU poultry board chair James Mottershead, up from a low of about 38 million in 2022, but still down from a high of 43 million in 2021.

He suggested that UK egg production had been gradually increasing but had only just made it back in line with 2021 levels, following the contraction of the national flock in 2022.

However, figures from Defra showed commercial layer chick placings declined by 2.4% in April 2024 compared with the same month last year, totalling 2.9m chicks.

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Mr Mottershead added: “Farmgate egg prices have eased back slightly from the highs seen last year, when supplies were tight, but remain stable with free-range producers reporting good returns at present.”

EU egg prices stood at 200.65 eurocents (169/kg) in mid-June, down by 3.1% on the previous month and 16.5% lower than the same month last year.

Broilers

Farmgate prices have been inching up for broilers, according to Mr Mottershead, but this still doesn’t fully compensate for higher inputs, such as electricity and gas.

“Confidence in the sector still remains low despite high demand for poultrymeat,” he added.

“If you are supplying into the independent sector that is currently producing very good margins at the moment, if you are in the integrated sector, depending on who you grow for, margins are still good, but there’s a lot of competition.”

During the first five months of 2024, UK poultrymeat production totalled 856,300t, up by 34,000t on the year, with broiler meat production accounting for roughly 92% of this.

Global picture

The global poultry market outlook has been recovering with consumption due to increase by between 1.5% and 2% this year, according to Rabobank’s latest quarterly report.

EU broiler prices increased slightly during May and into June, averaging 271 eurocents (228p)/ kg for the week ending 19 June.

Broiler prices in the US and EU were almost neck and neck in mid-June, while prices in Brazil dropped further and were considerably lower at 128 eurocents (108p)/kg.