WASHINGTON — Commercial hatcheries set 196 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Dec. 29, 2012, up 1 percent from the eggs set during the comparable week in 2011, according to the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 85 percent, NASS said.

Broiler-type chicks placed declined 2 percent to 159 million chicks placed for meat production during the week ending Dec. 29, 2012. Cumulative placements from Jan. 1, 2012, through Dec. 29, 2012 were 8.41 billion, down 2 percent from the same period in 2011.