Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released April 13, 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 209 million eggs in incubators during the week ending April 9, 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 Up Slightly Broiler growers in the 19 State weekly program placed 173 million chicks for meat production during the week ending April 9, 2011. Placements were up slightly from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through April 9, 2011 were 2.37 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : March 5, : March 12, : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : April 9, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 30,027 29,908 30,208 31,125 30,578 30,544 Arkansas .....................: 23,447 23,670 23,384 23,253 23,580 23,776 Delaware .....................: 3,853 3,810 3,888 3,882 3,892 3,858 Florida ......................: 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 Georgia ......................: 33,447 33,291 33,153 32,819 33,876 33,408 Kentucky .....................: 7,788 7,721 7,751 7,861 7,848 7,817 Louisiana ....................: 3,440 3,409 3,440 3,471 3,288 3,440 Maryland .....................: 7,716 7,677 7,654 7,741 7,730 7,747 Mississippi ..................: 18,980 18,991 19,428 18,722 18,583 19,413 North Carolina ...............: 19,586 19,790 20,494 20,276 19,995 20,495 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,061 7,432 7,270 7,268 7,006 7,310 Pennsylvania .................: 3,961 3,984 3,914 3,697 3,546 3,503 South Carolina ...............: 5,566 5,660 5,439 5,746 5,613 5,575 Texas ........................: 15,728 15,347 15,202 15,012 15,526 15,564 Virginia .....................: 6,571 6,513 6,318 6,590 6,593 6,315 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 19,999 19,352 19,653 19,734 18,637 19,062 : 19 State total ...............: 208,530 207,915 208,556 208,557 207,651 209,187 : Previous year total ..........: 206,494 205,506 207,381 205,353 204,597 208,937 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 101 101 102 101 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : March 5, : March 12, : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : April 9, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 21,177 21,441 20,592 21,440 20,827 21,456 Arkansas .....................: 21,612 23,147 20,908 21,478 21,296 20,131 Delaware .....................: 5,112 4,624 4,626 4,824 5,245 4,325 Florida ......................: 1,225 1,290 1,249 1,270 1,296 1,243 Georgia ......................: 28,329 28,770 28,305 27,603 28,221 27,871 Kentucky .....................: 5,924 6,695 6,475 6,766 5,746 6,194 Louisiana ....................: 3,081 2,997 3,036 3,227 3,028 3,005 Maryland .....................: 5,621 6,226 6,533 6,041 5,547 6,226 Mississippi ..................: 15,919 16,276 16,477 16,528 16,564 16,967 North Carolina ...............: 15,799 16,277 15,819 15,782 15,474 16,620 : Oklahoma .....................: 3,638 2,559 4,131 4,837 5,206 5,531 Pennsylvania .................: 3,263 3,028 3,032 3,206 3,229 3,143 South Carolina ...............: 4,050 4,010 4,010 4,916 4,991 4,375 Texas ........................: 11,778 12,343 12,989 13,152 13,004 12,923 Virginia .....................: 4,759 4,705 4,966 5,402 5,439 5,316 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 16,505 16,021 17,441 17,373 17,727 17,214 : 19 State total ...............: 167,792 170,409 170,589 173,845 172,840 172,540 : Previous year total ..........: 169,058 170,165 169,930 169,163 168,526 172,501 : Percent of previous year .....: 99 100 100 103 103 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs ............................................... (202) 690-8632 Troy Marshall - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey ................ (202) 720-3244 Miste Salmon - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink .. (202) 720-0585 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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