HDR1012000150090305971500BROILER HATCHERY Broiler Hatchery National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released March 5, 1997, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Broiler Hatchery" call Tom Kruchten at (202) 690-4870, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. For assistance with general agricultural statistics, information about NASS, its products or services, contact the Agricultural Statistics Hotline at 1-800-727-9540 or E-mail: NASS@NASS.USDA.GOV. The "Broiler Hatchery" report is available on AutoFax, (202) 720-2000, report 4300. Broiler Eggs Set In 15 Selected States Up 4 Percent Commercial hatcheries in the 15-State weekly program set in incubators 174 million eggs during the week ending March 1, 1997. This was up 4 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 82 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler Chicks Placed Up 5 Percent Broiler growers in the 15-State weekly program placed 139 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 1, 1997. Placements were up 5 percent from the comparable week in 1996. Cumulative placements from December 29, 1996, through March 1, 1997 were 1.23 billion, 2 percent above the 1.20 billion placed during the same period a year earlier. * * * * * * * * The next "Broiler Hatchery" report will be released at 3 P.M. ET on March 12, 1997. Subscription Information To subscribe to NASS reports or to order single copies, call toll free, 1-800-999-6779. You may write: ERS/NASS, 341 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 22070. Broiler Eggs Set in 15 Selected States ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :--------------------------------------------------------------- : Jan 25 : Feb 1 : Feb 8 : Feb 15 : Feb 22 : Mar 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 : AL : 25,188 25,159 25,655 25,752 25,996 26,008 AR : 29,631 30,087 30,092 29,951 29,862 29,990 DE : 4,661 4,681 4,696 4,678 4,520 4,601 FL : 2,805 2,854 2,792 2,863 3,032 2,927 GA : 29,172 29,126 29,623 29,942 *29,880 30,087 MD : 7,708 8,745 8,687 8,677 8,758 8,718 MS : 16,716 17,040 17,292 17,391 17,297 17,246 NC : 16,703 17,056 *17,700 17,433 *17,447 18,013 PA : 3,500 3,607 3,736 *3,554 *3,468 3,576 SC : 4,263 4,397 4,355 4,406 4,403 4,340 TX : 12,097 12,091 *12,106 12,115 *12,627 12,171 VA : 6,602 6,706 6,674 6,647 6,565 6,583 CA, TN, & WV : 9,849 9,349 9,443 10,085 9,707 9,523 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 Total : 168,895 170,898 *172,851 *173,494 *173,562 173,783 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 Total : 165,233 166,116 167,122 168,695 167,796 167,104 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- % of Prev Yr : 102 103 103 103 103 104 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Broiler Chicks Placed in 15 Selected States ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending State :--------------------------------------------------------------- : Jan 25 : Feb 1 : Feb 8 : Feb 15 : Feb 22 : Mar 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : 1,000 : AL : 18,343 18,578 17,849 18,028 *18,184 19,016 AR : 23,446 24,392 23,525 24,562 22,949 24,497 DE : 4,855 5,244 5,084 5,497 4,803 5,966 FL : 2,442 2,341 2,851 2,528 2,495 2,676 GA : 24,031 23,770 23,399 23,631 *23,915 23,580 MD : 6,626 5,946 5,591 5,328 6,607 5,399 MS : 14,681 14,640 13,967 13,988 14,142 14,435 NC : 14,146 13,064 12,770 13,007 *13,512 13,611 PA : 2,666 2,629 2,570 *2,787 *2,908 2,795 SC : 3,112 3,724 3,855 3,158 3,779 3,894 TX : 8,870 *8,964 *8,734 *8,940 *8,952 8,967 VA : 4,628 4,760 4,873 5,128 4,969 5,621 CA, TN, & WV : 9,226 8,670 8,604 9,544 9,092 8,772 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1997 Total : 137,072 *136,722 *133,672 *136,126 *136,307 139,229 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1996 Total : 134,893 134,319 133,801 131,709 131,680 132,418 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- % of Prev Yr : 102 102 100 103 104 105 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Revised