April 19, 2013

US commercial hatcheries, which are under a 19-state weekly programme, have set 200 million eggs in incubators during the week concluding on April 13, 2013, a slight rise from the same period a year earlier, said the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84%. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier.

Broiler growers in the programme placed 164 million chicks for meat production during the week ending April 13, 2013, a slight drop from the comparable week a year earlier.

Cumulative placements from December 30, 2012 through April 13, 2013 for the 19-state total were 2.45 billion, up 1% from the same period a year earlier.