US egg production, broiler chicks up in April

U.S. egg production in April included 6.56 billion table eggs and 1.06 billion hatching eggs.

U.S. egg production totaled 7.61 billion during April 2011, up slightly from the same time in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest report.
Production included 6.56 billion table eggs and 1.06 billion hatching eggs, of which 987 million were broiler-type and 70 million were egg-type.
The total number of layers during April averaged 340 million, down slightly from 2010 numbers. Egg production per 100 layers was 2,236 eggs, up 1% from April 2010. All layers in the U.S. on May 1 totaled 339 million, including 281 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 54.7 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs and 2.93 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs.
Egg-type chicks hatched during April 2011 totaled 43.4 million, down 9% from April 2010. Eggs in incubators totaled 40.8 million as of May 1, down 2% from the same time in 2010. Broiler-type chicks hatched in April totaled 780 million, up 2% from the same time in 2010. Eggs in incubators totaled 649 million on May 1, up 1% from a year earlier.