US January egg output up slightly from year-ago

US egg production totalled 7.67 billion in January, up slightly from last year, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in their monthly Chickens and Eggs report.

Production included 6.59 billion table eggs, and 1.08 billion hatching eggs of which 1 billion were broiler type and 72 million were egg-type.

January egg production per 100 layers was 2,249 eggs, up 1 percent from the same period in 2008.

Egg-type chicks hatched during January totalled 38.1 million, down 5 percent on-year. Eggs in incubators dropped 1 percent on-year to 35.2 million on February 1.

Domestic placements of egg-type pullet chicks for future hatchery supply flocks by leading breeders totalled 240,000 in January, up 14 percent on-year.

Broiler-type chicks hatched in January declined 5 percent on-year to 778 million, while eggs in incubators dropped 8 percent on-year to total 624 million on February 1, 2009.

Leading breeders placed 6.73 million broiler-type pullet chicks for future domestic hatchery supply flocks in January, down 4 percent on-year.