February egg production in the United States dropped by one percent from the same month a year ago, with broiler-type chicks hatched down two percent, but egg-type chicks hatched up by four percent.
According to the most recent USDA Chickens and Eggs report, total egg production amounted to 7.19 billion for the month, which included 6.23 billion table eggs and 962 million hatching eggs. Of the hatching eggs, 893 million were broiler-type, and 69 million were egg-type.
Egg-type chicks hatched in February amounted to 40.8 million, up four percent from February, 2012, while eggs in incubators totaled 41.8 million on March 1, up six percent from a year ago.
Broiler-type chicks hatched during February totaled 690 million, down two percent from February 2012. Eggs in incubators totaled 622 million on March 1, up 2 percent from a year earlier.
Layer supply, rate of lay both increase
All layer hens in the U.S. on March 1 totaled 345 million, up 2 percent from last year. Of those, 291 million were producing table or market-type eggs, 51.7 million produced broiler-type eggs and 2.98 million layers were producing egg-type hatching eggs.
The rate of lay per day on March 1 averaged 74.3 eggs per 100 layers, which is up slightly from the same day a year ago.
