Expension drive limits impact of poultry diseases in Poland

North-west Europe has in 2025 been plagued in recent years by a major wave of avian influenza outbreaks. Poland was also hit harder, with significantly more farms affected by the virus. In addition, the Polish sector has also been dealing with outbreaks of Newcastle disease. According to figures, many more farms were infected in 2025. Nevertheless, the number of slaughtered birds hardly declined. The expansion drive of Polish poultry farmers is keeping the impact of these disease outbreaks within limits.This is evident from figures from the Polish statistical office, Polish Statistics. Although some months showed a sharp negative change in slaughter numbers compared with the same month in 2024, particularly in spring, the total slaughter figure for 2025 ultimately ended up at a level comparable to 2024. According to information from the European Commission, 128 poultry farms in Poland were affected by avian influenza in 2025, compared with 50 farms in 2024. In addition, dozens of farms were also affected by Newcastle disease.Decline in the first half, growth in the second halfPolish data show that the total number of slaughters in 2025 reached 1.304 billion birds, compared with 1.319 billion in 2024. Despite the disease pressure in the supply chain, the number of slaughters was therefore only 1.1% below the previous year’s level. This concerns the total number of chicken slaughters, including both laying hens and broilers, with laying hens accounting for around 6% of the total throughout the year.In the first half of the year, slaughter numbers were about 30 million birds below the 2024 level, a decline of 2.8%. A clear recovery followed in the second half of the year, when about 15.5 million more birds were slaughtered than in the second half of 2024, representing an increase of roughly 1.4%.Will 2026 start strongly?The most recent figures from Polish Statistics on the number of broiler hatching eggs hatched in January 2026 suggest that slaughter numbers may also increase in the first months of 2026. According to the data, 139 million day-old broiler chicks were produced. That was considerably more than in 2024 and 2025, when 132 million and 135 million chicks, respectively, were hatched in January. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the number of produced hatching eggs was already somewhat above the level of the previous year.Meanwhile, the avian influenza situation in the country continues to create significant uncertainty. By the first week of March, 42 poultry farms had already been infected with avian influenza in 2026, suggesting that the situation may not necessarily be better than in 2025. The conclusion is that the avian influenza situation in the country is keeping slaughter numbers in check. Despite a large number of affected farms—including farms with broiler breeder birds—the number of processed chickens remained stable. The Polish poultry supply chain is still focused on growth, and if the avian influenza situation eventually improves, slaughter numbers could receive a new boost.