Source: MEATINGPLACE, 12/12/13

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 200 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Dec.7, 2013, the USDA reported in its latest Broiler Hatchery Report.

This was up 5 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 83 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier.

Broiler growers in the 19-state weekly program placed 163 million chicks for meat production during the week ending Dec.7, 2013. Placements were down slightly from the comparable week a year earlier.

Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012 through Dec.7, 2013 for the 19-state total were 8.01 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

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