Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released March 18, 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 3 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 240 million eggs in incubators during the week ending March 14, 2020, up 3 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 3 Percent Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 191 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 14, 2020, up 3 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 4, 2020 through March 14, 2020 for the United States were 2.10 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 :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : February 8, :February 15, :February 22, :February 29, : March 7, : March 14, : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,263 33,827 33,887 34,075 34,066 34,216 Arkansas .....................: 24,356 23,714 24,495 24,141 24,285 23,858 Delaware .....................: 5,459 5,245 5,223 5,454 5,335 5,337 Florida ......................: 1,209 1,193 1,191 1,209 1,225 1,207 Georgia ......................: 35,004 35,129 35,004 35,334 35,324 34,874 Kentucky .....................: 7,864 7,884 7,870 7,873 7,111 7,760 Louisiana ....................: 3,879 3,835 3,774 3,744 3,850 3,879 Maryland .....................: 7,758 8,113 7,879 8,439 8,455 8,464 Mississippi ..................: 18,153 18,351 17,915 18,354 18,213 18,082 Missouri .....................: 8,949 8,660 8,849 8,890 9,096 8,809 : North Carolina ...............: 25,078 24,763 25,254 25,138 24,982 25,233 Oklahoma .....................: 7,507 7,464 7,923 7,407 7,357 7,692 Pennsylvania .................: 5,893 5,741 6,088 6,135 5,979 6,019 South Carolina ...............: 5,802 5,888 5,513 5,809 5,643 5,748 Texas ........................: 17,846 17,250 17,681 17,907 17,245 17,706 Virginia .....................: 6,508 6,512 6,434 6,438 6,498 6,485 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 13,315 13,243 13,193 13,173 12,915 12,842 : Other States .................: 10,893 11,104 11,138 11,540 11,721 11,962 : United States ................: 239,736 237,916 239,311 241,060 239,300 240,173 Percent of previous year .....: 105 103 103 104 103 103 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : February 8, :February 15, :February 22, :February 29, : March 7, : March 14, : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 : 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 25,402 24,750 25,635 24,510 24,465 24,988 Arkansas .....................: 22,375 20,203 22,190 22,396 22,025 21,416 Delaware .....................: 4,359 4,534 6,196 5,351 4,881 4,905 Florida ......................: 1,297 1,281 1,316 1,349 1,314 1,225 Georgia ......................: 27,510 28,702 25,984 27,625 27,638 27,136 Kentucky .....................: 6,739 6,233 6,612 6,435 6,555 6,316 Louisiana ....................: 3,229 3,327 3,357 3,281 3,297 3,269 Maryland .....................: 5,969 6,306 5,018 5,406 5,918 5,347 Mississippi ..................: 14,832 15,255 14,984 15,127 15,513 14,888 Missouri .....................: 6,098 6,424 5,800 5,596 5,989 5,935 : North Carolina ...............: 20,004 19,736 20,185 19,854 20,348 20,506 Oklahoma .....................: 3,705 5,401 4,321 4,247 4,070 5,161 Pennsylvania .................: 4,353 4,427 4,419 4,196 4,174 4,466 South Carolina ...............: 4,542 5,279 5,301 5,263 4,644 4,823 Texas ........................: 13,842 14,387 13,643 14,235 13,202 14,122 Virginia .....................: 6,235 5,851 5,587 6,087 6,231 5,914 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 11,174 11,513 11,458 11,432 11,093 11,585 : Other States .................: 8,316 8,172 8,348 8,546 8,602 8,945 : United States ................: 189,981 191,781 190,354 190,936 189,959 190,947 Percent of previous year .....: 104 104 103 104 103 103 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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