Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 6/11/10

The somewhat mysterious increase in chicken slaughter rates before Memorial Day seems to have dropped back to normal, JPMorgan analyst Ken Goldman wrote in a follow-up note to investors.

The steep increase seen in the slaughter numbers at the end of last month was a development of concern because the chicken industry has only recently returned to a balance of supply and demand.

For the week ending June 4, Goldman notes, "total big birds (used for non-QSR foodservice) fell 8.2 percent from the week prior and 15.9 percent versus two weeks prior." In a year-over-year comparison, the slaughter figures for big birds are flat, whereas in the last half of May they'd spiked to increases of more than 40 percent.

Total broiler pounds (all sizes of birds) were down 7.9 percent, year-over-year, at the end of the first week of June.

"Overall we see today's USDA report as a positive for a chicken industry that was caught off-guard by the sudden breast price decline over the last two weeks," Goldman wrote in his note on Thursday.

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