WASHINGTON – During the week ending Dec. 25, commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 204 million eggs in incubators, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, US Department of Agriculture. This was up slightly from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier.

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


Broiler growers placed 168 million chicks for meat production during the week ending Dec. 25. Placements were up 1% from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from Jan. 3through Dec. 25 were 8.63 billion, up 2% from the same period last year.