USDA/NASS reports 263 million broilers produced in Delaware in its 2025 State Agriculture Overview, with production measured in head. This annual production measure is not the number of birds on farms at one instant, the number processed at Delaware facilities, or a count of birds depopulated for disease control or other reasons. DDA separately publishes approximate context of about 625 commercial broiler farms and up to 61 million birds raised in the state at a given time. These agency estimates have different definitions and should not be treated as a census.
What to keep in view
- 263 million broilers produced in 2025 (USDA/NASS)
- About 625 commercial broiler farms (DDA published estimate)
- Up to 61 million birds raised in the state at a time (DDA published estimate)
- No consistent statewide public annual cull series is used here
Farm counts are estimates, not a census
The Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Avian Influenza Information Center gives an approximate estimate of 625 commercial broiler farms and up to 61 million chickens being raised at a time. A separate DDA poultry page contains an older “over 700 producers” statement inside a section discussing a virulent Newcastle disease outbreak that began in California in 2018. The page does not provide a current observation date or a definition that reconciles the two counts. We therefore retain the 625/61-million figures only as approximate agency context, flag the separate historical statement, and do not present a single exact farm or producer count. The DDA page does not specify a reference year for this estimate, so it is presented as undated agency context rather than a current census.
No individual farm names, precise farm locations or disease-site inferences are mapped here. DDA states that affected farm identities are withheld for biosecurity reasons.
Raised here is not the same as processed here.
USDA/NASS reports 384.780 million young chickens slaughtered in Delaware in its 2025 Poultry Slaughter Summary, up 1.7% from 378.268 million in 2024. The report presents state totals in thousands of head. This is a separate slaughter-location series, not an estimate of birds raised on Delaware farms. Birds can move across state lines between production and processing, and the two series have different statistical definitions and coverage. Do not subtract one from the other or interpret the gap as imports, exports, mortality or culling.
The 2025 slaughter summary is a USDA/NASS annual report. This figure is not a count of culled or depopulated birds. No comparable annual statewide cull series is presented here.
Young chickens slaughtered and total live weight by state; 2025 annual total.
We distinguish a source’s reported observation from our interpretation. Where an update is preliminary, approximate or not comparable across geographies, we say so. This page is an explanatory guide, not an official government notice or professional advice.
Go to the original records
Annual broiler production in head; survey data displayed in the overview.
Agency-published approximate farm and standing-flock context.