Mixed U.S. Broiler Hatchery Situation

WASHINGTON - Mar 24/10 - SNS -- Broiler hatchery activity in the United States Broiler managed a mixed performance across the week finishing March 20, 2010, shows this week's USDA report.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 207.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was up 3.5% 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 Down Slightly Broiler growers in the 19-State weekly program placed 170 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 20, 2010. Placements were down slightly from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through March 20, 2010 were 1.84 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 13 : Feb 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 29,791 30,080 *30,104 30,030 29,667 30,564 AR : 24,504 23,906 *24,327 24,439 *22,958 23,762 DE : 3,269 3,266 3,264 3,193 3,782 3,615 FL : 1,352 1,376 1,385 1,338 1,303 1,316 GA : 31,630 31,902 *31,520 31,594 31,691 31,701 KY : 7,493 7,830 *7,775 7,655 7,710 7,995 LA : 3,392 3,470 3,470 3,470 3,440 3,500 MD : 8,904 9,069 9,106 9,062 8,856 9,141 MS : 19,380 19,258 19,465 19,349 19,156 19,503 NC : 18,737 19,134 *18,768 18,772 18,901 18,559 OK : 6,807 6,727 *6,658 6,879 *7,113 7,233 PA : 3,620 3,693 3,698 3,692 *3,839 3,647 SC : 5,515 5,675 5,977 5,643 5,640 6,048 TX : 15,968 16,145 15,807 15,448 15,566 15,541 VA : 6,490 6,435 6,427 6,549 6,543 6,412 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 18,882 *19,007 *19,610 *19,430 *19,498 19,236 : 205,734 206,973 207,361 206,543 205,663 207,773 : 202,817 204,603 206,753 202,111 203,072 200,382 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 101 101 100 102 101 104 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Feb 13 : Feb 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 20,296 20,884 20,739 20,883 21,449 20,750 AR : 20,798 21,265 20,773 22,446 *21,477 21,698 DE : 4,512 3,911 5,629 3,625 4,581 4,994 FL : 1,029 1,104 1,040 1,037 1,030 1,029 GA : 26,329 25,852 26,205 25,847 25,946 26,433 KY : 6,299 6,158 6,120 6,033 *6,450 6,070 LA : 2,929 3,014 3,049 3,032 3,021 3,043 MD : 5,800 5,808 5,316 6,589 6,115 6,069 MS : 16,259 16,617 16,897 17,174 16,809 16,891 NC : 14,868 15,010 15,411 15,299 15,790 15,610 OK : 4,557 4,863 4,505 3,172 4,658 4,417 PA : 2,932 2,646 2,609 2,854 *3,023 3,000 SC : 4,952 4,982 5,071 5,156 4,841 4,810 TX : 12,245 12,966 13,173 13,249 13,376 13,204 VA : 4,731 4,948 4,561 5,751 5,212 5,052 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 16,095 *15,833 17,185 *16,882 *16,379 17,040 : 164,631 165,861 168,283 169,029 170,157 170,110 : 167,039 163,431 166,495 167,577 169,505 170,633 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 99 101 101 101 100 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 170.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were unchanged from the comparable week a year earlier.