Declining U.S. Broiler Hatchery Activity

WASHINGTON - May 27/09 - SNS -- Broiler jatchery activity in the United States Broiler was generally lower across the seven days ending May 23, 2009 dropping below both week and year earlier levels, reveals today's USDA statistics.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 203.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was down 6.5% from the eggs set the same week last year.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85%. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler Chicks Placed Down 6 Percent Broiler growers in the 19-State weekly program placed 167 million chicks for meat production during the week ending May 23, 2009. Placements were down 6% from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from December 28, 2008 through May 23, 2009 were 3.52 billion, down 6% from the same period a year earlier. ******** Subscription Information To subscribe to NASS reports or to order single copies, call toll free, 1- 800-999-6779. You may write: ERS/NASS, 5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, VA 22161. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Apr 18 : Apr 25 : May 2 : May 9 : May 16 : May 23 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 29,935 29,465 *29,533 29,705 29,867 29,892 AR : 23,995 23,797 *23,739 23,447 24,049 24,116 DE : 3,585 3,529 3,615 3,579 3,760 3,616 FL : 991 991 994 995 992 992 GA : 31,283 30,878 *31,673 31,659 32,085 31,618 KY : 7,704 7,552 7,699 7,739 7,589 7,930 LA : 2,230 2,230 2,230 2,230 2,230 2,245 MD : 9,160 8,963 8,799 8,700 8,803 8,870 MS : 17,622 17,849 *17,456 17,996 18,587 18,372 NC : 18,936 18,449 *18,629 18,831 18,388 18,368 OK : 6,921 7,047 *7,002 6,779 6,667 6,683 PA : 3,952 4,061 3,805 *4,182 *3,667 3,950 SC : 5,538 5,636 5,714 5,905 5,629 5,594 TX : 15,351 14,980 14,500 15,134 15,363 15,501 VA : 6,179 6,236 6,283 6,381 6,401 6,226 CA, MO, TN, & WV : *19,708 19,623 19,319 *19,913 *19,996 19,906 : 203,090 201,286 200,990 203,175 204,073 203,879 : 215,758 214,262 214,943 215,106 218,063 217,208 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 94 94 94 94 94 94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Apr 18 : Apr 25 : May 2 : May 9 : May 16 : May 23 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 : 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : *20,393 19,724 *20,352 21,024 *20,755 20,860 AR : 20,538 21,929 21,156 21,626 *21,171 21,879 DE : 4,370 4,758 5,033 4,850 5,346 5,168 FL : 726 685 695 821 870 718 GA : 26,052 27,560 27,251 25,974 25,848 26,611 KY : 5,970 5,869 6,067 6,769 5,968 6,468 LA : 1,901 1,896 1,902 1,888 1,902 1,917 MD : 6,661 5,637 6,088 6,451 5,834 5,448 MS : 16,491 16,899 16,693 16,072 16,311 15,625 NC : 15,666 15,836 15,639 15,659 *15,284 15,475 OK : 4,530 4,601 4,931 4,417 4,701 3,938 PA : 2,879 3,168 3,105 *3,098 *3,095 3,025 SC : 4,728 4,257 4,768 5,862 5,019 5,085 TX : 13,415 13,341 13,001 13,340 12,991 12,618 VA : 4,987 5,475 4,562 4,996 5,129 5,380 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 17,339 17,736 16,713 *16,605 *17,378 16,735 : 166,646 169,371 167,956 169,452 167,602 166,950 : 177,032 178,663 178,080 177,253 175,827 177,324 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 94 95 94 96 95 94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 166.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were down 6.2% from the comparable week a year earlier.

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