Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 9/5/13


Commercial hatcheries set 200 million eggs in incubators during the week ended Aug. 31, up 5 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent.

Broiler growers placed 166 million chicks for meat production during the week ended Aug. 31, up 4 percent from the comparable week a year earlier.

Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012, through August 31, 2013, were 5.78 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

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