US broiler eggs placed up 2 percent at end of November

U.S. commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 198 million broiler eggs in incubators during the week ending December 1, up 2 percent from the eggs set the corresponding week in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest report.
Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85 percent. Broiler growers in the program placed 160 million chicks for meat production during the week ending December 1, down 1 percent from the comparable week in 2011. Cumulative placements from January 1 through December 1 were 7.76 billion, down 2 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.