Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released December 15, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Up Slightly Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 205 million eggs in incubators during the week ending December 11, 2010. This was up slightly 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 11, 2010. Placements were up 1 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through December 11, 2010 were 8.29 billion, up 2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : November 6, :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, :December 11, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 27,727 29,397 29,358 29,324 29,501 29,788 Arkansas .....................: 22,877 23,436 23,072 23,598 23,763 23,197 Delaware .....................: 4,019 4,045 4,004 4,216 4,150 4,181 Florida ......................: 1,358 1,235 1,360 1,359 1,360 1,310 Georgia ......................: 31,721 32,651 33,066 32,749 33,477 33,150 Kentucky .....................: 7,321 7,704 7,558 7,578 7,184 7,625 Louisiana ....................: 3,319 3,486 3,470 3,395 3,395 3,364 Maryland .....................: 7,623 7,399 7,587 7,276 7,291 7,661 Mississippi ..................: 18,644 18,232 18,477 18,675 18,346 18,727 North Carolina ...............: 19,994 20,449 20,437 20,020 19,702 19,874 : Oklahoma .....................: 6,273 6,540 6,281 6,463 6,211 6,307 Pennsylvania .................: 3,881 3,788 3,957 3,876 3,959 3,906 South Carolina ...............: 5,440 5,535 5,617 5,726 5,432 5,587 Texas ........................: 15,465 15,687 15,910 16,523 15,272 15,698 Virginia .....................: 6,031 5,305 5,999 5,934 5,943 5,951 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 17,715 18,940 19,212 19,511 18,637 19,113 : 19 State total ...............: 199,408 203,829 205,365 206,223 203,623 205,439 : Previous year total ..........: 190,700 201,573 201,906 202,644 201,274 205,271 : Percent of previous year .....: 105 101 102 102 101 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : November 6, :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, :December 11, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 19,741 20,394 20,245 19,051 19,825 20,108 Arkansas .....................: 20,060 20,001 20,489 21,461 20,162 20,001 Delaware .....................: 4,979 5,102 4,738 5,116 4,967 5,663 Florida ......................: 1,064 1,222 1,207 1,334 1,219 1,207 Georgia ......................: 25,273 25,363 24,284 26,705 27,178 27,171 Kentucky .....................: 5,194 6,196 5,890 5,804 5,981 6,624 Louisiana ....................: 2,947 2,986 2,985 2,906 3,057 3,022 Maryland .....................: 4,825 5,712 6,285 5,450 6,364 5,145 Mississippi ..................: 16,069 15,738 15,118 15,936 15,713 16,160 North Carolina ...............: 14,837 15,375 15,927 16,274 15,476 15,943 : Oklahoma .....................: 4,745 5,296 4,480 3,514 4,975 4,468 Pennsylvania .................: 2,951 2,835 2,935 3,151 3,081 3,219 South Carolina ...............: 4,308 5,089 5,044 4,496 4,599 4,656 Texas ........................: 12,322 12,745 13,442 12,651 13,339 13,588 Virginia .....................: 5,288 4,735 5,184 4,970 4,376 5,249 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 16,726 15,532 16,258 16,069 17,967 16,877 : 19 State total ...............: 161,329 164,321 164,511 164,888 168,279 169,101 : Previous year total ..........: 153,967 156,298 151,209 158,544 166,323 167,012 : Percent of previous year .....: 105 105 109 104 101 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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