WASHINGTON – Commercial hatcheries set 201 million eggs in incubators during the week ending July 27, 2013, a 3 percent increase from the eggs set the comparable week a year earlier, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent.

Broiler growers placed 167 million chicks for meat production during the week ending July 27, 2013, a gain of 4 percent from 2012. Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012, through July 27, 2013, reached 4.95 billion, a slight increase from the same period a year ago.