Mixed U.S. Broiler Hatchery Situation

WASHINGTON - Mar 17/10 - SNS -- Broiler hatchery activity in the United States Broiler managed a mixed performance for the seven days finishing March 13, 2010, judging from this week's USDA statistics.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 205.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was up 1.0% from the eggs set the same week last year.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 83%. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler Chicks Placed Up Slightly Broiler growers in the 19-State weekly program placed 170 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 13, 2010. Placements were up slightly from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through March 13, 2010 were 1.67 billion, down slightly 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, 5301 Shawnee Road, Alexandria VA 22312. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Feb 6 : Feb 13 : Feb 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 29,407 29,791 *30,080 30,106 *30,030 29,667 AR : 23,926 24,504 *23,906 24,481 *24,439 23,114 DE : 3,225 3,269 3,266 3,264 3,193 3,782 FL : 1,389 1,352 1,376 1,385 1,338 1,303 GA : 31,757 31,630 31,902 31,747 31,594 31,691 KY : 7,561 7,493 *7,830 7,553 *7,655 7,710 LA : 3,470 3,392 3,470 3,470 3,470 3,440 MD : 8,741 8,904 9,069 9,106 9,062 8,856 MS : 19,390 19,380 *19,258 19,465 19,349 19,156 NC : 18,767 18,737 *19,134 18,763 18,772 18,901 OK : 6,850 6,807 *6,727 6,924 *6,879 7,122 PA : 3,168 3,620 3,693 3,698 *3,692 3,615 SC : 5,435 5,515 5,675 5,977 5,643 5,640 TX : *15,884 *15,968 *16,145 *15,807 *15,448 15,566 VA : 6,301 6,490 6,435 6,427 6,549 6,543 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 18,805 18,882 18,989 19,647 *19,424 19,464 : 204,076 205,734 206,955 207,820 206,537 205,570 : 201,805 202,817 204,603 206,753 202,111 203,072 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 101 101 101 101 102 101 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Feb 6 : Feb 13 : Feb 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 20,420 20,296 20,884 20,739 *20,883 21,449 AR : 19,920 20,798 21,265 20,773 *22,446 21,430 DE : 4,577 4,512 3,911 5,629 3,625 4,581 FL : 1,081 1,029 1,104 1,040 1,037 1,030 GA : 25,908 26,329 25,852 26,205 *25,847 25,946 KY : *6,143 *6,299 *6,158 *6,120 *6,033 6,405 LA : 2,955 2,929 3,014 3,049 3,032 3,021 MD : 6,252 5,800 5,808 5,316 6,589 6,115 MS : 16,484 16,259 16,617 16,897 17,174 16,809 NC : 15,072 14,868 15,010 15,411 15,299 15,790 OK : 4,305 4,557 4,863 4,505 *3,172 4,658 PA : 2,957 2,932 2,646 2,609 *2,854 2,956 SC : 4,613 4,952 4,982 5,071 5,156 4,841 TX : *12,413 *12,245 *12,966 *13,173 *13,249 13,376 VA : 4,412 4,731 4,948 4,561 5,751 5,212 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 15,767 16,095 *15,812 *17,185 *16,869 16,236 : 163,279 164,631 165,840 168,283 169,016 169,855 : 168,018 167,039 163,431 166,495 167,577 169,505 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 97 99 101 101 101 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 169.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were unchanged from the comparable week a year earlier.