Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released December 8, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Up 1 Percent Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 204 million eggs in incubators during the week ending December 4, 2010. This was up 1 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler-Type Chicks Placed Up 1 Percent Broiler growers in the 19 State weekly program placed 169 million chicks for meat production during the week ending December 4, 2010. Placements were up 1 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through December 4, 2010 were 8.12 billion, up 2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : October 30, : November 6, :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 27,785 27,727 29,397 29,358 29,324 29,501 Arkansas .....................: 22,540 22,877 23,436 23,895 23,598 23,763 Delaware .....................: 3,782 4,019 4,045 4,004 4,216 4,126 Florida ......................: 1,356 1,358 1,235 1,360 1,359 1,360 Georgia ......................: 31,292 31,721 32,651 33,066 32,749 33,477 Kentucky .....................: 8,072 7,321 7,746 7,420 7,578 7,354 Louisiana ....................: 3,425 3,319 3,486 3,470 3,395 3,395 Maryland .....................: 7,740 7,623 7,399 7,587 7,276 7,291 Mississippi ..................: 17,584 18,644 18,232 17,704 18,675 18,346 North Carolina ...............: 20,107 19,994 20,449 20,258 20,020 19,702 : Oklahoma .....................: 6,833 6,273 6,540 6,281 6,463 6,211 Pennsylvania .................: 3,621 3,881 3,788 3,802 3,876 3,877 South Carolina ...............: 5,723 5,440 5,535 5,617 5,726 5,432 Texas ........................: 15,683 15,443 15,667 15,890 16,503 15,252 Virginia .....................: 6,188 6,031 5,305 5,999 5,934 5,943 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 18,718 17,702 18,965 19,217 19,517 18,959 : 19 State total ...............: 200,449 199,373 203,876 204,928 206,209 203,989 : Previous year total ..........: 182,901 190,700 201,573 201,906 202,644 201,274 : Percent of previous year .....: 110 105 101 101 102 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : October 30, : November 6, :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 20,051 19,741 20,394 20,245 19,051 19,825 Arkansas .....................: 21,574 20,060 20,001 20,489 21,461 20,162 Delaware .....................: 4,635 4,979 5,102 4,738 5,116 4,903 Florida ......................: 1,217 1,064 1,222 1,207 1,334 1,219 Georgia ......................: 26,876 25,273 25,363 24,284 26,705 27,178 Kentucky .....................: 6,707 5,088 6,089 5,784 5,697 6,119 Louisiana ....................: 2,874 2,947 2,986 2,985 2,906 3,057 Maryland .....................: 6,466 4,825 5,712 6,285 5,450 6,428 Mississippi ..................: 15,385 16,069 15,738 15,074 15,936 15,713 North Carolina ...............: 14,087 14,837 15,375 15,927 16,274 15,476 : Oklahoma .....................: 4,075 4,745 5,296 4,480 3,514 5,199 Pennsylvania .................: 2,893 2,951 2,855 2,935 3,150 3,069 South Carolina ...............: 4,258 4,308 5,089 5,044 4,496 4,599 Texas ........................: 13,585 12,304 12,726 13,424 12,632 13,323 Virginia .....................: 4,662 5,288 4,735 5,184 4,970 4,376 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 16,265 16,742 15,525 16,273 16,056 17,967 : 19 State total ...............: 165,610 161,221 164,208 164,358 164,748 168,613 : Previous year total ..........: 158,070 153,967 156,298 151,209 158,544 166,323 : Percent of previous year .....: 105 105 105 109 104 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Data for broiler hatchery estimates are collected from all known chicken hatcheries within the 19 States. The 19 States account for approximately 97 percent of the broilers produced on an annual basis. Individual NASS field offices maintain a list of all known hatcheries and update their lists on a continual basis. All known hatcheries within the 19 States respond via fax. Those that do not respond are contacted by telephone. Estimating Procedures: All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. All hatcheries are accounted for in the estimates. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. NASS field offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Individual hatchery data are summed to State and 19 State totals. Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late or corrected data. Revisions made to the previous five-week's data during the current week are published in this report. Final estimates are published in the annual Hatchery Production Summary released in April. Reliability: Hatchery estimates are based on a census of all known operating hatcheries and therefore, have no sampling error. However, estimates are subject to errors such as omission, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality controls in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@nass.usda.gov Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch .......................................... (202) 720-3570 Bruce Boess, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section ................... (202) 720-4447 Doug Bounds - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ............ (202) 690-3237 David Colwell - Cold Storage ................................................ (202) 720-8784 Chris Hawthorn - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink .. (202) 720-0585 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs .................................................. (202) 690-8632 Troy Marshall - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey ................... (202) 720-3244 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: http://www.nass.usda.gov Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. 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