Overall Increase in U.S. Broiler Hatchery

WASHINGTON - May 19/10 - SNS -- An overall advance in broiler hatchery activity in the United States was reported by the USDA across the seven days finishing May 15, 2010 with numbers rising above both week earlier and year earlier levels.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-State weekly program set 209.0 million eggs in incubators during the week. This was up 2.0% from the eggs set the same week last year.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84%. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler Chicks Placed Up 2 Percent Broiler growers in the 19-State weekly program placed 172 million chicks for meat production during the week ending May 15, 2010. Placements were up 2% from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through May 15, 2010 were 3.20 billion, up 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 :----------------------------------------------------------- : Apr 10 : Apr 17 : Apr 24 : May 1 : May 8 : May 15 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 30,384 30,199 *30,083 30,944 30,489 30,418 AR : 24,424 23,406 23,449 24,096 *23,547 24,380 DE : 3,783 3,783 3,787 3,787 3,771 3,796 FL : 1,342 1,382 1,389 1,380 1,391 1,388 GA : 32,011 31,808 31,695 31,665 31,765 32,414 KY : 8,435 *7,711 *7,577 7,846 8,178 7,892 LA : 3,500 3,500 3,470 3,500 3,319 3,319 MD : 9,058 8,906 8,184 7,059 8,050 8,018 MS : 19,287 19,160 19,023 18,816 19,109 19,286 NC : 18,620 18,704 *19,809 *19,893 *19,789 20,006 OK : 6,986 6,924 6,705 6,747 6,873 6,924 PA : 3,738 3,784 3,802 3,735 *3,643 3,669 SC : 5,770 5,507 5,667 5,839 5,789 5,796 TX : *15,554 *15,674 *15,836 *15,920 *15,669 16,108 VA : 6,527 6,531 6,792 6,616 6,531 6,429 CA, MO, TN, & WV : *19,518 *19,530 *19,778 *18,913 *19,652 19,879 : 208,937 206,509 207,046 206,756 207,565 209,722 : 203,712 203,819 202,068 201,582 204,581 205,499 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 103 101 102 103 101 102 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised Broiler Chicks Placed, 19 Selected States -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :----------------------------------------------------------- : Apr 10 : Apr 17 : Apr 24 : May 1 : May 8 : May 15 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Thousand : AL : 20,790 21,377 20,340 21,332 21,383 21,189 AR : 21,793 20,910 21,719 22,183 *20,938 21,317 DE : 4,654 5,404 4,850 5,150 4,657 5,053 FL : 944 1,102 1,140 955 1,008 1,129 GA : 26,788 26,360 25,735 27,144 26,866 26,153 KY : *6,785 *5,994 *6,167 6,824 6,345 5,440 LA : 3,112 3,134 3,187 3,153 3,142 3,296 MD : 7,133 5,735 6,353 6,588 6,130 6,446 MS : 17,012 16,879 16,766 16,770 16,814 16,910 NC : 15,088 15,600 15,578 15,383 15,362 15,547 OK : 5,179 4,399 3,507 3,609 4,900 4,135 PA : 3,020 3,029 2,907 2,945 *3,048 2,893 SC : 5,416 5,344 5,781 4,485 4,631 5,762 TX : 13,021 12,462 *12,830 *12,937 *12,909 12,952 VA : 4,840 4,658 5,035 5,037 5,905 5,487 CA, MO, TN, & WV : *16,926 *16,802 *17,469 *17,894 *16,778 18,037 : 172,501 169,189 169,364 172,389 170,816 171,746 : 167,137 166,888 169,887 169,262 169,977 168,175 : Pct. of Prev. Year : 103 101 100 102 100 102 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised END OF REPORT!

Broiler growers placed 171.0 million chicks for meat production. Placements were up 1.8% from the comparable week a year earlier.