Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released December 6, 2018, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set in the United States Down 1 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 231 million eggs in incubators during the week ending December 1, 2018, down 1 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 82.3 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 Down Slightly Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 178 million chicks for meat production during the week ending December 1, 2018, down slightly from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 6, 2018 through December 1, 2018 for the United States were 8.73 billion. Cumulative placements were up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - Selected States and United States: 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : October 27, : November 3, :November 10, :November 17, :November 24, : December 1, : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,342 28,798 30,051 30,532 30,622 31,136 Arkansas .....................: 23,340 22,882 24,091 24,415 24,815 24,683 Delaware .....................: 4,667 4,667 4,696 4,722 4,696 4,701 Florida ......................: 1,100 1,147 1,194 1,194 1,194 1,194 Georgia ......................: 33,204 33,205 33,575 34,890 34,648 34,371 Kentucky .....................: 6,290 7,086 7,829 7,740 7,873 8,027 Louisiana ....................: 3,833 3,879 3,562 3,668 3,653 3,834 Maryland .....................: 8,013 7,926 7,863 7,939 7,986 7,993 Mississippi ..................: 18,497 17,159 17,659 18,367 18,569 18,584 Missouri .....................: 8,222 7,333 7,711 8,567 8,375 8,460 : North Carolina ...............: 22,079 21,899 22,083 22,459 22,405 23,146 Oklahoma .....................: 6,053 7,574 7,837 5,888 7,500 7,645 Pennsylvania .................: 5,198 5,055 5,080 5,528 5,306 5,262 South Carolina ...............: 5,483 4,976 5,616 5,939 5,562 5,881 Texas ........................: 15,955 14,659 15,994 16,007 16,343 16,710 Virginia .....................: 6,142 5,794 5,632 6,380 6,406 6,771 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 11,217 11,597 11,875 12,341 12,303 12,178 : Other States .................: 8,697 9,234 9,362 9,642 9,677 10,112 : United States ................: 217,332 214,870 221,710 226,218 227,933 230,688 Percent of previous year .....: 99 100 100 99 101 99 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : October 27, : November 3, :November 10, :November 17, :November 24, : December 1, : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 : 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 22,526 22,886 21,519 22,735 21,661 22,485 Arkansas .....................: 22,292 22,100 19,908 20,111 21,483 21,805 Delaware .....................: 4,850 4,311 5,043 3,892 4,469 4,570 Florida ......................: 741 828 739 1,301 1,328 1,358 Georgia ......................: 26,984 26,330 25,632 25,614 25,180 26,332 Kentucky .....................: 5,952 5,917 4,772 4,489 5,389 6,114 Louisiana ....................: 2,856 3,143 3,353 3,480 3,006 3,143 Maryland .....................: 5,233 6,840 4,707 7,194 6,929 5,412 Mississippi ..................: 14,378 13,844 15,232 15,423 14,228 14,662 Missouri .....................: 5,932 5,303 5,425 5,637 4,731 5,421 : North Carolina ...............: 15,364 15,614 17,273 17,679 17,048 18,171 Oklahoma .....................: 3,374 3,241 4,564 4,390 4,349 4,399 Pennsylvania .................: 3,955 4,216 3,941 3,824 3,938 3,945 South Carolina ...............: 4,151 4,889 4,484 4,134 4,804 4,325 Texas ........................: 12,235 12,685 12,936 12,943 11,904 13,031 Virginia .....................: 5,624 4,964 5,309 5,418 4,892 5,299 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 10,269 9,457 10,180 9,937 10,608 10,443 : Other States .................: 7,190 7,213 7,215 6,950 7,112 7,218 : United States ................: 173,906 173,781 172,232 175,151 173,059 178,133 Percent of previous year .....: 100 99 98 98 99 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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@nass.usda.gov Travis Averill, Chief, Livestock Branch .......................................... (202) 720-3570 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, Egg Products, Mink, Census of Aquaculture .. (202) 720-8784 Fatema Haque - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery ............................. (202) 720-3244 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs .................................................... (202) 690-3676 Adam Peters - Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ................................. (202) 690-3237 Erica Sadler - Cost of Pollination, Honey, Honey Bee Colonies ................. (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. To set-up this free subscription, visit www.nass.usda.gov and click on "National" or "State" in upper right corner above "search" box to create an account and select the reports you would like to receive. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form (PDF), found online at www.ascr.usda.gov/filing-program-discrimination-complaint-usda-customer, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.