Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released February 23, 2011, 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 207 million eggs in incubators during the week ending February 19, 2011. This was up slightly from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 83 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 167 million chicks for meat production during the week ending February 19, 2011. Placements were up 1 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through February 19, 2011 were 1.18 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 15, : January 22, : January 29, : February 5, :February 12, :February 19, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,953 29,923 30,439 29,855 30,143 31,010 Arkansas .....................: 23,176 23,503 22,819 23,426 22,979 23,340 Delaware .....................: 4,014 4,040 4,039 3,980 3,768 4,002 Florida ......................: 1,360 1,343 1,341 1,360 1,360 1,360 Georgia ......................: 32,769 32,685 33,059 33,628 33,723 33,630 Kentucky .....................: 7,389 6,879 7,864 8,006 8,025 7,944 Louisiana ....................: 3,395 3,395 3,287 3,395 3,395 3,379 Maryland .....................: 7,672 7,593 7,635 7,695 7,703 7,707 Mississippi ..................: 18,805 18,733 18,404 18,965 18,376 18,736 North Carolina ...............: 19,943 19,851 19,673 19,464 19,636 19,644 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,207 7,049 7,016 6,974 7,181 7,019 Pennsylvania .................: 4,073 4,073 3,892 3,914 4,001 3,880 South Carolina ...............: 5,553 5,544 5,673 5,452 5,579 5,610 Texas ........................: 15,510 15,082 14,404 14,320 14,234 14,931 Virginia .....................: 5,979 5,641 5,905 5,971 6,081 6,110 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 18,301 18,782 18,240 19,266 18,606 18,868 : 19 State total ...............: 205,099 204,116 203,690 205,671 204,790 207,170 : Previous year total ..........: 200,307 202,034 202,304 204,076 205,734 206,981 : Percent of previous year .....: 102 101 101 101 100 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 15, : January 22, : January 29, : February 5, :February 12, :February 19, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 21,063 20,692 21,000 20,856 20,903 21,762 Arkansas .....................: 20,231 22,119 20,707 20,823 21,034 21,319 Delaware .....................: 4,875 5,689 4,420 5,002 4,579 5,336 Florida ......................: 1,269 1,230 1,224 1,229 1,202 1,201 Georgia ......................: 27,733 27,123 27,323 27,749 27,209 28,085 Kentucky .....................: 5,917 5,758 5,600 5,742 6,028 6,357 Louisiana ....................: 2,962 2,977 2,915 3,002 3,014 2,991 Maryland .....................: 5,796 4,866 5,928 5,885 5,439 5,874 Mississippi ..................: 16,168 16,247 16,190 16,293 16,123 15,576 North Carolina ...............: 16,030 14,841 15,534 15,446 15,715 15,731 : Oklahoma .....................: 4,953 3,515 4,244 5,586 5,162 3,814 Pennsylvania .................: 3,168 3,236 3,207 3,302 3,347 3,151 South Carolina ...............: 4,315 5,123 4,728 4,455 4,805 3,885 Texas ........................: 13,218 12,879 13,006 13,054 12,668 12,033 Virginia .....................: 4,568 4,886 5,202 4,971 5,459 4,533 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 15,954 16,326 17,242 14,669 15,104 15,760 : 19 State total ...............: 168,220 167,507 168,470 168,064 167,791 167,408 : Previous year total ..........: 167,240 166,113 165,437 163,279 164,631 165,886 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 101 102 103 102 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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) 720-3106 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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