WASHINGTON — Commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 200 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Aug. 1, which is down 3% from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84%. 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 167 million chicks for meat production during the week ending Aug. 1. Placements were down 4% from the comparable week one year earlier. Cumulative placements from Dec. 28, 2008, through Aug. 1, 2009, were 5.22 billion, down 5% from the same period a year earlier.