January turkey hatchery numbers down on year

January turkey hatchery numbers down on year

Turkey hatchery numbers fell in January, in-line with USDA expectations because of slow demand and the fallout from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Poults hatched in January 2024 were 21.633 million head, a little bit less than in December and 8% below January 2023, with 19.929 million of those placed into met production, up 1% on the month, but also down 8% on the year.

There were 24.979 million turkey eggs in incubation on February 1st, a drop of 10% from last year.