U.S. Broiler Hatchery Down on Week

WASHINGTON - Apr 7/10 - SNS -- Broiler hatchery activity in the United States Broiler was down from last week for the period ending during the week finishing April 3, 2010, but managed a mixed performance versus year the previous year, reveals this week's USDA statistics.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 204.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was up 0.5% 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 169 million chicks for meat production during the week ending April 3, 2010. Placements were down slightly from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through April 3, 2010 were 2.17 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 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : Mar 27 : Apr 3 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 30,104 30,017 *29,652 30,564 30,325 29,344 AR : 24,327 24,284 *23,115 23,778 23,437 23,360 DE : 3,264 3,193 3,782 3,615 3,709 3,640 FL : 1,385 1,338 1,303 1,316 1,343 1,350 GA : 31,520 31,745 31,691 31,701 31,500 31,094 KY : 7,775 7,822 *7,868 7,995 7,708 7,784 LA : 3,470 3,470 3,440 3,500 3,470 3,379 MD : 9,106 9,062 8,856 9,141 9,089 9,121 MS : 19,465 19,349 19,156 19,503 19,405 19,204 NC : 18,768 18,790 *18,767 18,559 18,743 18,654 OK : 6,658 6,623 *6,866 7,224 *7,137 6,888 PA : 3,698 3,692 3,839 3,743 *3,791 3,777 SC : 5,977 5,643 5,640 6,048 5,990 5,735 TX : 15,807 15,448 15,566 15,541 14,758 15,564 VA : 6,427 6,549 6,543 6,412 6,178 6,466 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 19,614 19,435 19,502 19,134 *18,782 18,962 : 207,365 206,460 205,586 207,774 205,365 204,322 : 206,753 202,111 203,072 200,382 199,817 203,634 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 100 102 101 104 103 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Feb 27 : Mar 6 : Mar 13 : Mar 20 : Mar 27 : Apr 3 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 20,739 20,883 21,449 20,750 20,850 20,504 AR : 20,773 22,446 21,477 21,677 21,428 22,035 DE : 5,629 3,625 4,581 4,994 4,391 4,529 FL : 1,040 1,037 1,030 1,029 1,096 997 GA : 26,205 25,847 25,946 26,433 27,287 26,235 KY : 6,120 6,033 6,450 *5,983 6,256 6,837 LA : 3,049 3,032 3,021 3,043 3,059 3,023 MD : 5,316 6,589 6,115 6,069 6,223 6,395 MS : 16,897 17,174 16,809 16,891 16,766 16,463 NC : 15,411 15,299 15,790 15,610 15,853 15,705 OK : 4,505 3,172 4,658 4,286 4,347 3,290 PA : 2,609 2,854 3,023 2,993 *2,943 2,961 SC : 5,071 5,156 4,841 4,810 4,114 4,775 TX : 13,173 13,249 13,376 13,204 12,821 12,965 VA : 4,561 5,751 5,212 5,052 5,328 5,316 CA, MO, TN, & WV : 17,201 16,893 16,389 17,105 *16,421 16,721 : 168,299 169,040 170,167 169,929 169,183 168,751 : 166,495 167,577 169,505 170,633 167,014 168,980 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 101 101 100 100 101 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 168.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were unchanged from the comparable week a year earlier.