Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released March 4, 2020, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set in the United States Up 4 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 241 million eggs in incubators during the week ending February 29, 2020, up 4 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 81.3 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler-Type Chicks Placed in the United States Up 4 Percent Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 191 million chicks for meat production during the week ending February 29, 2020, up 4 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 4, 2020 through February 29, 2020 for the United States were 1.71 billion. Cumulative placements were up 4 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - Selected States and United States: 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 25, : February 1, : February 8, :February 15, :February 22, :February 29, : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,255 33,619 34,263 33,249 33,887 34,075 Arkansas .....................: 23,727 24,228 24,356 23,654 24,495 24,160 Delaware .....................: 5,239 5,242 5,610 5,210 5,339 5,366 Florida ......................: 1,178 1,168 1,209 1,193 1,191 1,209 Georgia ......................: 35,549 35,289 35,004 35,129 35,004 35,334 Kentucky .....................: 7,989 7,905 7,864 7,884 7,513 7,873 Louisiana ....................: 3,864 3,879 3,879 3,835 3,774 3,744 Maryland .....................: 8,324 8,387 7,758 8,113 7,879 8,439 Mississippi ..................: 18,305 18,124 18,153 18,351 17,906 18,354 Missouri .....................: 8,914 8,778 8,949 8,660 8,849 8,890 : North Carolina ...............: 25,029 24,884 25,114 24,887 25,284 25,367 Oklahoma .....................: 7,837 7,756 7,507 7,464 7,398 7,407 Pennsylvania .................: 6,193 6,000 5,864 5,745 6,095 6,053 South Carolina ...............: 5,753 5,889 5,802 5,888 5,513 5,809 Texas ........................: 17,992 17,369 17,846 17,250 17,681 17,907 Virginia .....................: 6,453 6,469 6,508 6,512 6,434 6,438 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 13,278 13,044 13,315 13,243 13,193 12,895 : Other States .................: 10,804 10,788 10,893 11,104 11,138 11,540 : United States ................: 240,683 238,818 239,894 237,371 238,573 240,860 Percent of previous year .....: 105 104 105 103 103 104 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : January 25, : February 1, : February 8, :February 15, :February 22, :February 29, : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 24,933 25,233 25,401 24,750 25,635 24,510 Arkansas .....................: 21,273 22,785 22,375 20,203 22,190 22,396 Delaware .....................: 4,930 5,625 4,672 5,265 6,018 5,921 Florida ......................: 1,296 1,245 1,296 1,282 1,321 1,349 Georgia ......................: 27,367 26,276 27,507 28,702 25,981 27,602 Kentucky .....................: 5,839 5,683 6,739 6,233 6,612 6,435 Louisiana ....................: 3,192 3,201 3,229 3,327 3,357 3,281 Maryland .....................: 5,781 4,747 6,195 5,391 5,017 5,169 Mississippi ..................: 15,507 15,319 14,832 15,255 14,984 15,127 Missouri .....................: 5,464 5,132 6,098 6,424 5,800 5,596 : North Carolina ...............: 18,609 20,820 19,964 19,669 20,065 19,855 Oklahoma .....................: 5,396 4,388 3,705 5,401 4,321 4,247 Pennsylvania .................: 4,419 4,398 4,354 4,449 4,430 4,206 South Carolina ...............: 5,402 4,689 4,542 5,279 5,300 5,263 Texas ........................: 14,423 14,639 13,842 14,387 13,643 14,241 Virginia .....................: 5,598 6,402 5,916 6,123 5,782 5,960 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 10,609 12,004 11,174 11,514 10,457 11,519 : Other States .................: 8,905 8,880 8,315 8,173 8,347 8,546 : United States ................: 188,943 191,466 190,156 191,827 189,260 191,223 Percent of previous year .....: 103 104 104 104 103 104 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Data for broiler hatchery estimates are collected weekly from all broiler-type hatcheries that hatch at least one million chicks a year. Individual NASS regional field offices maintain a list of all known hatcheries and update their lists on a continual basis. All hatcheries that meet the minimum size criteria are given adequate time to respond to the weekly survey. Those that do not respond are contacted by telephone. The weekly United States total for chicks placed includes states receiving greater than 500,000 chicks annually for grow-out. 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. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. NASS regional 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. 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: 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@usda.gov Travis Averill, Chief, Livestock Branch ..................................... (202) 692-0069 Tony Dorn, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section .................. (202) 690-3223 Holly Brenize - Poultry Slaughter......................................... (202) 720-0585 Alissa Cowell-Mytar - Cold Storage, Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses .. (202) 720-4751 Liana Cuffman - Catfish and Trout, Mink, Census of Aquaculture ........... (202) 720-8784 Fatema Haque - Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ........................... (202) 690-3244 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs, Egg Products ................................. (202) 690-3676 Adam Peters - Honey, Honey Bee Colonies .................................. (202) 690-4870 Takiyah Walker - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery ...................... (202) 720-6147 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: www.nass.usda.gov Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. 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