WASHINGTON — Commercial hatcheries set 201 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Aug. 24, 2013, an increase of 5 percent from the eggs set during the comparable week a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent, NASS said.


Broiler-type chicks placed for meat production climbed 1 percent to 164 million chicks during the week ending Aug. 24, NASS reported. Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012, through Aug. 24 were 5.61 billion, up 1 percent from the same period in 2012.