U.S. Broiler Hatchery Down On Week, Up on Year

WASHINGTON - Mar 31/10 - SNS -- Broiler hatchery activity in the United States Broiler was up the year, but declined from the previous week, shows this week's USDA statistics during the seven days ending March 27, 2010.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 205.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was up 3.0% 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 1 Percent Broiler growers in the 19-State weekly program placed 169 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 27, 2010. Placements were up 1% from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through March 27, 2010 were 2.01 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 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : Mar 27 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 30,080 30,104 *30,017 29,667 30,564 30,325 AR : 23,906 24,327 *24,284 22,958 *23,778 23,437 DE : 3,266 3,264 3,193 3,782 3,615 3,709 FL : 1,376 1,385 1,338 1,303 1,316 1,343 GA : 31,902 31,520 *31,745 31,691 31,701 31,500 KY : 7,830 7,775 *7,822 7,710 7,995 7,708 LA : 3,470 3,470 3,470 3,440 3,500 3,470 MD : 9,069 9,106 9,062 8,856 9,141 9,089 MS : 19,258 19,465 19,349 19,156 19,503 19,405 NC : 19,134 18,768 *18,790 18,901 18,559 18,743 OK : 6,727 6,658 *6,623 7,113 *7,224 7,145 PA : 3,693 3,698 3,692 3,839 *3,743 3,698 SC : 5,675 5,977 5,643 5,640 6,048 5,990 TX : 16,145 15,807 15,448 15,566 15,541 14,758 VA : 6,435 6,427 6,549 6,543 6,412 6,178 CA, MO, TN, & WV : *19,015 *19,614 *19,435 *19,502 *19,134 18,832 : 206,981 207,365 206,460 205,667 207,774 205,330 : 204,603 206,753 202,111 203,072 200,382 199,817 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 101 100 102 101 104 103 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Feb 20 : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : Mar 27 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 20,884 20,739 20,883 21,449 20,750 20,850 AR : 21,265 20,773 22,446 21,477 *21,677 21,428 DE : 3,911 5,629 3,625 4,581 4,994 4,391 FL : 1,104 1,040 1,037 1,030 1,029 1,096 GA : 25,852 26,205 25,847 25,946 26,433 27,287 KY : 6,158 6,120 6,033 6,450 6,070 6,256 LA : 3,014 3,049 3,032 3,021 3,043 3,059 MD : 5,808 5,316 6,589 6,115 6,069 6,223 MS : 16,617 16,897 17,174 16,809 16,891 16,766 NC : 15,010 15,411 15,299 15,790 15,610 15,853 OK : 4,863 4,505 3,172 4,658 *4,286 4,347 PA : 2,646 2,609 2,854 3,023 *2,993 2,940 SC : 4,982 5,071 5,156 4,841 4,810 4,114 TX : 12,966 13,173 13,249 13,376 13,204 12,821 VA : 4,948 4,561 5,751 5,212 5,052 5,328 CA, MO, TN, & WV : *15,858 *17,201 *16,893 *16,389 *17,105 16,422 : 165,886 168,299 169,040 170,167 170,016 169,181 : 163,431 166,495 167,577 169,505 170,633 167,014 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 102 101 101 100 100 101 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 169.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were up 1.2% from the comparable week a year earlier.