Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released April 27, 2011, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Up 1 Percent Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 209 million eggs in incubators during the week ending April 23, 2011. This was up 1 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 23, 2011. Placements were up 2 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through April 23, 2011 were 2.72 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : April 9, : April 16, : April 23, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 30,208 31,067 29,908 30,544 31,264 29,960 Arkansas .....................: 23,384 23,252 23,580 23,776 23,464 23,681 Delaware .....................: 3,888 3,882 3,892 3,858 3,902 3,903 Florida ......................: 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,360 1,344 1,221 Georgia ......................: 33,153 32,819 33,876 33,408 33,304 33,768 Kentucky .....................: 7,763 7,965 7,968 7,862 7,651 7,918 Louisiana ....................: 3,440 3,471 3,288 3,440 3,440 3,334 Maryland .....................: 7,654 7,741 7,730 7,747 7,749 7,733 Mississippi ..................: 19,459 19,549 19,380 19,413 19,520 19,382 North Carolina ...............: 20,494 20,276 19,995 20,495 20,584 20,214 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,270 7,268 7,006 7,310 7,219 7,182 Pennsylvania .................: 3,914 3,697 3,546 3,510 3,461 3,743 South Carolina ...............: 5,439 5,746 5,268 5,353 5,496 5,478 Texas ........................: 15,166 14,977 15,633 15,528 15,446 15,640 Virginia .....................: 6,318 6,590 6,593 6,315 6,040 6,232 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 19,653 19,722 18,625 19,147 19,239 19,292 : 19 State total ...............: 208,563 209,382 207,648 209,066 209,123 208,681 : Previous year total ..........: 207,915 205,735 204,921 209,257 206,893 207,422 : Percent of previous year .....: 100 102 101 100 101 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : March 19, : March 26, : April 2, : April 9, : April 16, : April 23, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 20,592 21,440 20,827 21,456 21,978 21,592 Arkansas .....................: 20,908 21,478 21,296 20,131 21,847 21,231 Delaware .....................: 4,626 4,824 5,245 4,325 4,634 4,663 Florida ......................: 1,249 1,270 1,296 1,243 1,243 1,252 Georgia ......................: 28,305 27,603 28,221 27,898 27,852 28,182 Kentucky .....................: 6,497 6,766 5,746 6,255 6,937 6,771 Louisiana ....................: 3,036 3,227 3,028 3,005 3,064 2,921 Maryland .....................: 6,533 6,041 5,547 6,226 6,221 6,320 Mississippi ..................: 16,447 16,528 16,560 16,967 17,133 16,695 North Carolina ...............: 15,819 15,782 15,475 16,753 15,874 16,194 : Oklahoma .....................: 4,131 4,837 5,206 5,531 4,199 3,740 Pennsylvania .................: 3,032 3,206 3,229 3,117 2,982 2,816 South Carolina ...............: 4,010 4,916 4,991 4,375 5,069 4,480 Texas ........................: 13,007 13,170 12,976 12,894 12,608 13,294 Virginia .....................: 4,966 5,402 5,439 5,316 5,532 5,112 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 17,429 17,362 17,701 17,199 16,704 17,291 : 19 State total ...............: 170,587 173,852 172,783 172,691 173,877 172,554 : Previous year total ..........: 170,235 169,700 168,989 171,651 169,539 169,643 : Percent of previous year .....: 100 102 102 101 103 102 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 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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