Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released April 6, 2011, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Up 2 Percent Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 208 million eggs in incubators during the week ending April 2, 2011. This was up 2 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 2 Percent Broiler growers in the 19 State weekly program placed 173 million chicks for meat production during the week ending April 2, 2011. Placements were up 2 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through April 2, 2011 were 2.20 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :February 26, : March 5, : March 12, : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,551 30,027 29,908 30,414 31,125 30,578 Arkansas .....................: 23,339 23,447 23,670 23,384 23,253 23,582 Delaware .....................: 3,899 3,853 3,810 3,888 3,882 3,892 Florida ......................: 1,359 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 Georgia ......................: 33,090 33,447 33,291 33,153 32,819 33,876 Kentucky .....................: 7,822 7,788 7,721 7,834 7,861 7,848 Louisiana ....................: 3,409 3,440 3,409 3,440 3,471 3,288 Maryland .....................: 7,688 7,716 7,677 7,654 7,741 7,730 Mississippi ..................: 19,064 18,980 18,991 19,428 18,722 18,583 North Carolina ...............: 19,794 19,586 19,790 20,377 20,276 19,995 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,148 7,061 7,432 7,470 7,268 7,006 Pennsylvania .................: 3,732 3,961 3,984 3,921 3,697 3,712 South Carolina ...............: 5,566 5,566 5,660 5,439 5,746 5,613 Texas ........................: 15,351 15,728 15,347 15,202 15,012 15,526 Virginia .....................: 6,465 6,571 6,513 6,318 6,590 6,593 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 19,356 19,949 19,312 19,656 19,804 18,614 : 19 State total ...............: 206,633 208,480 207,875 208,938 208,627 207,796 : Previous year total ..........: 207,365 206,494 205,506 207,381 205,353 204,597 : Percent of previous year .....: 100 101 101 101 102 102 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :February 26, : March 5, : March 12, : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 21,044 21,177 21,441 20,592 21,440 20,770 Arkansas .....................: 22,150 21,612 23,147 20,908 21,478 21,286 Delaware .....................: 4,498 5,112 4,624 4,626 4,824 5,245 Florida ......................: 1,349 1,225 1,290 1,249 1,270 1,296 Georgia ......................: 27,285 28,329 28,770 28,305 27,603 28,206 Kentucky .....................: 6,780 5,854 6,635 6,416 6,706 5,741 Louisiana ....................: 3,021 3,081 2,997 3,036 3,227 3,028 Maryland .....................: 6,758 5,621 6,226 6,533 6,041 5,573 Mississippi ..................: 16,401 15,919 16,276 16,477 16,528 16,564 North Carolina ...............: 15,202 15,799 16,277 15,819 15,782 15,454 : Oklahoma .....................: 2,973 3,638 2,559 4,131 4,837 5,206 Pennsylvania .................: 3,203 3,257 3,020 3,028 3,198 3,248 South Carolina ...............: 4,852 4,050 4,010 4,010 4,916 4,991 Texas ........................: 11,915 11,778 12,343 12,989 13,152 13,004 Virginia .....................: 4,352 4,759 4,705 4,966 5,402 5,439 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 17,022 16,527 15,978 17,406 17,388 17,629 : 19 State total ...............: 168,805 167,738 170,298 170,491 173,792 172,680 : Previous year total ..........: 168,299 169,058 170,165 169,930 169,163 168,526 : Percent of previous year .....: 100 99 100 100 103 102 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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