WASHINGTON – Commercial hatcheries set 201 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Dec. 14, 2013, an increase of 3 percent over the eggs set the comparable week a year earlier, the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 83 percent.

Broiler-type chicks place for meat production climbed 1 percent, according to NASS. Broiler growers placed 164 million chicks during the week ending Dec. 14. Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012, through Dec. 14 totaled 8.18 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year ago.