Chicken meat output continues to soar

The UK broiler industry has got off to a flying start this year as demand for home-produced chicken continues to grow. Placings of day-old chicks have shown a year-on-year rise in each of the first four months, with expansion in March and April reaching impressive levels. Overall an extra 18 million chicks were placed between Jan-Apr, amounting to growth of 5%. In March and April, the increase hit 9.5% and 7.2% respectively (see table). By contrast, the turkey sect