US broiler eggs up, chicks down last week of July

U.S. commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 197 million eggs in incubators during the week ending July 28, up 1 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week in 2011, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture report.

Georgia set the most eggs, with 31.57 million. Alabama and Arkansas round out the top three, with 28.2 million and 20.9 million eggs set, respectively. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85 percent.

Broiler growers in the program placed 161 million chicks for meat production during the week, down 1 percent from the comparable week in 2011. Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas make up the top three growers, placing 28.3 million, 19.4 million and 19.3 million chicks. Cumulative placements from January 1 through July 28 were 4.93 billion, down 3 percent from the same period in 2011, according to the USDA. 

For more information and statistics on U.S. poultry, see www.wattagnet.com/marketdata.html.