US broiler eggs down 5 percent at end of April

Commercial hatcheries in theU.S. Department of Agriculture's 19-state weekly program set 197 million eggs in incubators during the week ending April 28, down 5 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week in 2011.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85 percent. Georgia set the most eggs, with 32.36 million, and Alabama and Arkansas set the second and third most, with 27.19 million and 21.25 million eggs, respectively. Broiler growers in the program placed 167 million chicks for meat production during the week ending April 28. Placements were down 3 percent from the comparable week in 2011. Cumulative placements from January 1 through April 28 were 2.77 billion, down 4 percent from the same period in 2011. 

For more information and statistics on poultry and eggs, seewww.wattagnet.com/marketdata.html.