Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released March 2, 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 26, 2011. 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 Down Slightly Broiler growers in the 19 State weekly program placed 168 million chicks for meat production during the week ending February 26, 2011. Placements were down slightly from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through February 26, 2011 were 1.34 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 22, : January 29, : February 5, :February 12, :February 19, :February 26, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,923 30,439 29,941 30,143 31,010 29,955 Arkansas .....................: 23,503 22,819 23,426 22,979 23,340 23,263 Delaware .....................: 4,040 4,039 3,980 3,768 4,002 3,899 Florida ......................: 1,343 1,341 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,359 Georgia ......................: 32,685 33,059 33,628 33,723 33,653 33,090 Kentucky .....................: 6,879 7,864 8,135 8,025 7,944 7,850 Louisiana ....................: 3,395 3,287 3,395 3,395 3,379 3,409 Maryland .....................: 7,593 7,635 7,695 7,703 7,707 7,688 Mississippi ..................: 18,733 18,404 18,965 18,376 18,736 19,064 North Carolina ...............: 19,851 19,673 19,462 19,636 19,636 19,842 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,049 7,016 6,974 7,181 7,019 7,148 Pennsylvania .................: 4,073 4,116 3,914 4,001 3,675 3,956 South Carolina ...............: 5,544 5,673 5,452 5,579 5,610 5,566 Texas ........................: 15,082 14,404 14,320 14,234 14,931 15,353 Virginia .....................: 5,641 5,905 5,971 6,081 5,834 6,465 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 18,782 18,240 19,102 18,416 18,636 19,492 : 19 State total ...............: 204,116 203,914 205,720 204,600 206,472 207,399 : Previous year total ..........: 202,034 202,304 204,076 205,734 206,981 207,365 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 101 101 99 100 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 22, : January 29, : February 5, :February 12, :February 19, :February 26, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 20,692 21,000 20,856 20,903 21,762 21,044 Arkansas .....................: 22,119 20,707 20,823 21,034 21,319 22,150 Delaware .....................: 5,689 4,420 5,002 4,579 5,336 4,498 Florida ......................: 1,230 1,224 1,229 1,202 1,201 1,349 Georgia ......................: 27,123 27,323 27,749 27,209 28,083 27,339 Kentucky .....................: 5,758 5,600 5,742 6,028 6,357 6,734 Louisiana ....................: 2,977 2,915 3,002 3,014 2,991 3,021 Maryland .....................: 4,866 5,928 5,885 5,439 5,874 6,758 Mississippi ..................: 16,247 16,190 16,293 16,123 15,576 16,401 North Carolina ...............: 14,841 15,534 15,446 15,715 15,731 15,200 : Oklahoma .....................: 3,515 4,244 5,586 5,162 3,814 2,973 Pennsylvania .................: 3,236 3,207 3,302 3,347 3,251 3,202 South Carolina ...............: 5,123 4,728 4,455 4,805 3,885 4,852 Texas ........................: 12,879 13,006 13,054 12,668 12,033 11,784 Virginia .....................: 4,886 5,202 4,971 5,459 4,520 3,929 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 16,326 17,242 14,669 15,172 15,686 16,987 : 19 State total ...............: 167,507 168,470 168,064 167,859 167,419 168,221 : Previous year total ..........: 166,113 165,437 163,279 164,631 165,886 168,299 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 102 103 102 101 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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