Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released April 1, 2026, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set in the United States Up 2 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 255 million eggs in incubators during the week ending March 28, 2026, up 2 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 79.1 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three-weeks earlier. Broiler-Type Chicks Placed in the United States Up 2 Percent Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 196 million chicks for meat production during the week ending March 28, 2026, up 2 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through March 28, 2026 for the United States were 2.34 billion. Cumulative placements were up 2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :February 21, :February 28, : March 7, : March 14, : March 21, : March 28, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 35,866 35,764 35,524 35,672 35,709 35,639 Arkansas .....................: 27,271 27,015 26,855 26,752 26,912 27,587 Delaware .....................: 5,869 5,869 5,869 5,869 5,869 5,869 Georgia ......................: 35,765 36,008 36,177 35,619 35,945 35,918 Kentucky .....................: 8,019 8,122 8,163 8,234 8,181 8,121 Maryland .....................: 8,383 8,485 8,498 8,485 8,485 8,485 Mississippi ..................: 18,107 18,071 17,821 17,840 18,167 18,348 Missouri .....................: 9,123 9,123 9,123 9,152 9,152 8,767 : North Carolina ...............: 26,381 26,058 26,090 26,251 26,432 26,340 Oklahoma .....................: 5,815 5,928 5,885 5,833 5,931 5,882 Pennsylvania .................: 9,058 9,062 8,968 9,112 9,301 8,620 South Carolina ...............: 6,122 6,144 6,061 6,283 6,372 6,407 Texas ........................: 19,567 19,671 19,594 19,517 19,494 19,476 Virginia .....................: 5,793 5,780 5,983 5,984 5,984 5,764 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 16,080 16,099 16,589 16,017 15,737 16,449 : Other States .................: 17,729 17,244 16,397 16,924 17,467 17,106 : United States ................: 254,948 254,443 253,597 253,544 255,138 254,778 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :February 21, :February 28, : March 7, : March 14, : March 21, : March 28, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 24,017 24,041 23,650 24,398 24,319 23,628 Arkansas .....................: 22,118 21,641 22,150 22,734 22,826 22,914 Delaware .....................: 5,061 6,215 6,627 6,101 5,965 5,107 Georgia ......................: 27,877 28,242 28,849 28,808 29,028 29,673 Kentucky .....................: 5,957 5,918 6,035 5,981 5,750 6,060 Maryland .....................: 6,684 6,168 5,576 6,278 6,339 7,502 Mississippi ..................: 15,165 13,920 14,369 14,331 14,113 14,260 Missouri .....................: 5,521 5,751 5,663 5,765 5,322 5,085 : North Carolina ...............: 20,285 20,427 20,204 20,297 20,324 20,261 Oklahoma .....................: 3,702 3,964 3,639 3,415 3,814 3,799 Pennsylvania .................: 5,446 4,525 4,968 5,015 5,145 5,173 South Carolina ...............: 5,253 5,212 5,102 4,852 4,644 4,881 Texas ........................: 14,524 14,750 14,820 14,800 14,905 14,765 Virginia .....................: 4,804 4,704 5,180 5,918 4,978 5,229 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 13,272 13,903 13,763 13,332 14,623 14,271 : Other States .................: 12,722 13,560 13,508 14,116 13,788 13,183 : United States ................: 192,408 192,941 194,103 196,141 195,883 195,791 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Data for broiler hatchery estimates are collected weekly from all broiler-type hatcheries that hatch at least one million chicks a year. Individual NASS regional field offices maintain a list of all known hatcheries and update their lists on a continual basis. All hatcheries that meet the minimum size criteria are given adequate time to respond to the weekly survey. Those that do not respond are contacted by telephone. The weekly United States total for chicks placed includes states receiving greater than 500,000 chicks annually for grow-out. Estimating Procedures: All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. NASS regional field offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late or corrected data. Revisions made to the previous five-week's data during the current week are published in this report. Final estimates are published in the annual Hatchery Production Summary released in April. Reliability: Estimates are subject to errors such as omission, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality controls in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@usda.gov. Travis Averill, Chief, Livestock Branch................................................ (202) 692-0069 Sherry Bertramsen - Livestock Slaughter............................................. (202) 690-8632 Tiffany Byrne - Dairy Products...................................................... (651) 440-7789 Ryan Cowen - Cattle, Cattle on Feed................................................. (202) 720-3040 Kim DaPra - Milk Production......................................................... (202) 720-3278 Fatema Haque - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised................... (202) 720-3244 Derron Martin - Catfish, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Trout................. (202) 690-3237 Ralph Mondesir - Hogs and Pigs...................................................... (202) 720-3106 Suzanne Richards - Cost of Pollination, Honey, Honey Bee Colonies, Sheep and Goats.. (202) 720-4448 Shulonda Shaw - Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses, Cold Storage................... (202) 720-3240 Autumn Stone - Layers, Eggs......................................................... (202) 690-3676 Takiyah Walker - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery................................. (202) 720-6147 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov. The national specific reports are available via a free e-mail subscription. To set-up this free subscription, visit www.nass.usda.gov and click on "National" in upper right corner above "search" box to create an account and select the reports you would like to receive. Economics, Statistics, and Market Information (ESMIS) - National Agricultural Library (NAL) website houses NASS's and other agency archived reports at https://esmis.nal.usda.gov. All email subscriptions containing reports will be sent from https://esmis.nal.usda.gov. To receive the reports via e-mail, you will have to go to the website, create a new account and subscribe to the reports. You should whitelist notifications@esmis.nal.usda.gov in your email client to avoid the emails going into spam/junk folders. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@usda.gov. If you have specific questions you would like an expert to respond to, please visit our "Ask A Specialist" website at www.nass.usda.gov/Contact_Us/Ask_a_Specialist. In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690- 7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.