Number of livestock in spring of 2021 (provisional)

The number of pigs increased slightly from the previous year to about 1.1 million pigs.
The number of cattle at start of May was 844,100 which is slightly less than a year ago. The number of suckler cows, bulls and heifers increased whereas that cows and cattle under 1 year decreased.
The number of dairy cows was 253,500 which are two percent less than a year ago.
The number of suckler cows at the start of May was about 63,700 (+3%).
There were about 131.000 sheep, which is six per cent less than a year ago.
On 1 April 2021, there were 14 million poultry birds on 550 farms.
In the beginning of April, the number of laying hens totalled 3.7 million, which was a few percent less than a year earlier. In total, there were 4.3 million places for chickens.
Approximately 300 farms had over 50 chickens. On average, slightly less than 15,000 chickens were on the farms.
In the beginning of April, the number of broilers was 8.5 million, which was the same as last year. In total, there were 12 million places for broilers on 183 farms.
In the beginning of April, there were 470,000 broiler hens. Overall, there were 570.000 places for broiler hens on 30 farms.
Turkeys are reared on 40 farms, and the number of turkeys totals 360,000. In the beginning of April, these farms had approximately 287,000 turkeys.