Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released May 18, 2011, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Down 2 Percent Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 207 million eggs in incubators during the week ending May 14, 2011. This was down 2 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85 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 174 million chicks for meat production during the week ending May 14, 2011. Placements were up 1 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 2, 2011 through May 14, 2011 were 3.24 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : April 9, : April 16, : April 23, : April 30, : May 7, : May 14, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,704 30,293 29,958 29,611 29,861 29,329 Arkansas .....................: 23,776 23,630 23,681 23,061 23,583 23,501 Delaware .....................: 3,858 3,902 3,850 3,811 3,860 3,740 Florida ......................: 1,360 1,344 1,221 1,360 1,360 1,358 Georgia ......................: 33,408 33,304 33,825 33,368 33,663 33,479 Kentucky .....................: 7,830 7,560 7,974 7,687 8,011 7,934 Louisiana ....................: 3,440 3,440 3,334 3,288 3,394 3,319 Maryland .....................: 7,747 7,749 7,733 7,738 7,725 7,680 Mississippi ..................: 19,413 19,520 19,384 19,289 19,019 19,295 North Carolina ...............: 20,495 20,584 20,214 20,441 20,284 20,301 : Oklahoma .....................: 7,310 7,219 7,182 7,033 7,073 7,073 Pennsylvania .................: 3,691 3,541 4,081 3,933 3,847 3,943 South Carolina ...............: 5,353 5,496 5,478 5,271 5,422 5,345 Texas ........................: 15,556 15,591 15,658 15,527 15,355 15,418 Virginia .....................: 6,315 6,373 6,232 6,685 6,251 6,289 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 19,247 19,426 19,334 19,622 19,235 19,303 : 19 State total ...............: 208,503 208,972 209,139 207,725 207,943 207,307 : Previous year total ..........: 209,257 206,893 207,422 207,319 209,188 210,586 : Percent of previous year .....: 100 101 101 100 99 98 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : April 9, : April 16, : April 23, : April 30, : May 7, : May 14, : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 : 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 21,456 21,978 21,592 20,957 20,915 20,891 Arkansas .....................: 20,131 21,847 21,231 22,162 21,472 21,894 Delaware .....................: 4,325 4,634 4,614 4,633 5,492 5,190 Florida ......................: 1,243 1,243 1,252 1,317 1,239 1,182 Georgia ......................: 27,898 27,852 28,182 28,637 28,557 28,935 Kentucky .....................: 6,255 6,937 6,771 6,847 6,094 6,405 Louisiana ....................: 3,005 3,064 2,921 3,029 3,031 2,940 Maryland .....................: 6,226 6,221 6,355 6,403 6,266 5,844 Mississippi ..................: 16,967 17,133 16,695 16,666 16,497 16,429 North Carolina ...............: 16,753 15,874 16,215 16,915 16,731 16,153 : Oklahoma .....................: 5,531 4,199 3,740 4,530 3,730 4,460 Pennsylvania .................: 3,117 2,963 2,790 2,987 2,849 3,309 South Carolina ...............: 4,375 5,069 4,480 3,957 4,301 4,556 Texas ........................: 12,917 12,631 13,316 13,247 13,223 13,373 Virginia .....................: 5,316 5,532 5,112 4,906 4,449 4,976 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 17,218 16,762 17,334 16,047 18,565 17,268 : 19 State total ...............: 172,733 173,939 172,600 173,240 173,411 173,805 : Previous year total ..........: 171,651 169,539 169,643 172,617 171,075 171,930 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 103 102 100 101 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 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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