Real Time Animals Slaughtered for US Meat
Topic: Land, Food & Wildlife
In this chart: Real Time
About this chart
A clock runs while dots fill in for the animals slaughtered for meat in the United States at 2025's rates, every dot ten animals: the chickens as a field, the turkeys, hogs and cattle beside it. The readout gives chickens and cattle each second. Point at any dot, or tap it, to read its numbers. The clock runs for fifty-six seconds, holds for three, and starts again. The scrubber under the chart marks the seconds and pauses on any of them.
Method
The counts are the US Department of Agriculture's for 2025: 9,579,797,000 young chickens and 190,973,000 turkeys slaughtered under federal inspection (Poultry Slaughter 2025 Summary, February 2026), and 128,201,100 hogs and 29,795,300 cattle in commercial slaughter (Livestock Slaughter 2025 Summary, April 2026). Federal inspection leaves out small exempt plants; commercial slaughter leaves out animals slaughtered on farms. Calves, sheep, ducks and mature chickens are not shown.
The clock spreads each year's total evenly over 2025's 365 days, though plants work in shifts on weekdays: one second of the chart is one second of an average day, not a live count. Every dot is ten animals, whatever its size; the chicken dots are drawn smaller to fit, and a chicken dot appears once its ten are counted.
Data sources
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Poultry Slaughter 2025 Summary (February 2026): young chickens and turkeys, federally inspected
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Livestock Slaughter 2025 Summary (April 2026): hogs and cattle, commercial slaughter
Data table
Chickens, turkeys, hogs and cattle slaughtered in the US in 2025: a year, a second and in the chart's fifty-six seconds. Source: US Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Show all 4 rows
| Animal | In 2025 | A second | In 56 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chickens | 9,579,797,000 | 303.77 | 17,011 |
| Turkeys | 190,973,000 | 6.06 | 339 |
| Hogs | 128,201,100 | 4.07 | 227 |
| Cattle | 29,795,300 | 0.94 | 52 |
Updated 2025
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