Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released August 26, 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 1 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 252 million eggs in incubators during the week ending August 22, 2026, up 1 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 79.4 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 1 Percent Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 195 million chicks for meat production during the week ending August 22, 2026, up 1 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through August 22, 2026 for the United States were 6.48 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 :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : July 18, : July 25, : August 1, : August 8, : August 15, : August 22, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 35,103 35,125 35,040 34,882 34,709 35,052 Arkansas .....................: 26,295 26,558 25,802 26,163 26,226 26,129 Delaware .....................: 5,495 5,869 5,587 5,586 5,869 5,686 Georgia ......................: 35,208 35,257 35,906 35,459 35,883 35,552 Kentucky .....................: 7,815 7,798 7,862 7,828 7,720 7,804 Maryland .....................: 8,495 8,516 8,516 8,414 8,414 8,444 Mississippi ..................: 19,425 19,667 19,667 19,742 18,947 19,385 Missouri .....................: 9,072 9,072 9,041 9,072 9,072 8,676 North Carolina ...............: 25,739 25,917 26,015 25,803 25,715 25,817 Oklahoma .....................: 5,823 5,598 5,704 5,831 5,714 5,770 : Pennsylvania .................: 9,389 9,417 9,446 9,442 9,305 9,501 South Carolina ...............: 6,519 6,612 6,247 6,233 6,266 6,308 Texas ........................: 19,139 18,896 19,034 18,490 17,813 18,920 Virginia .....................: 5,778 5,784 5,268 5,581 5,778 5,786 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 15,903 15,883 15,610 15,570 15,396 15,416 : Other States .................: 17,295 17,448 17,361 16,744 17,170 17,272 : United States ................: 252,493 253,417 252,106 250,840 249,997 251,518 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : July 18, : July 25, : August 1, : August 8, : August 15, : August 22, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 24,914 24,293 24,468 24,246 23,908 23,715 Arkansas .....................: 21,916 21,445 21,899 22,409 21,965 20,357 Delaware .....................: 4,792 5,292 5,649 5,578 6,418 6,088 Georgia ......................: 27,582 28,125 28,605 27,338 28,030 28,732 Kentucky .....................: 5,880 5,789 5,910 5,819 5,858 5,564 Maryland .....................: 6,509 6,097 5,918 6,293 5,789 5,714 Mississippi ..................: 15,529 15,634 15,406 15,609 15,397 15,473 Missouri .....................: 5,008 5,535 5,640 5,588 6,033 5,937 North Carolina ...............: 21,018 20,795 21,102 21,097 20,905 20,940 Oklahoma .....................: 3,499 4,147 3,660 3,572 3,740 4,628 : Pennsylvania .................: 5,278 5,356 5,302 5,311 5,338 5,329 South Carolina ...............: 4,544 4,907 4,437 4,954 5,733 5,348 Texas ........................: 14,797 14,810 14,759 14,802 14,420 14,460 Virginia .....................: 5,409 5,145 5,050 4,929 5,322 5,267 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 14,014 12,760 12,969 14,036 13,346 12,960 : Other States .................: 14,766 14,377 13,801 14,167 14,209 14,180 : United States ................: 195,455 194,507 194,575 195,748 196,411 194,692 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service - Estimation Branch Contacts For more information about specific data items, please contact the Estimation Branch staff members below. You can also email inquiries to nass@usda.gov. Anthony Prillaman, Associate Deputy Administrator............................................................................... (202) 720-2127 Darin Jantzi, Section Chief (701) 412-5953 Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Eggs, Hogs and Pigs, Layers, Sheep and Goats Jeff Lemmons, Section Chief (202) 973-3272 Cattle, Cattle on Feed, Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses, Cold Storage Fleming Gibson, Section Chief (Acting) (202) 236-2428 Catfish, Census of Aquaculture, Dairy Products, Livestock Slaughter, Poultry Slaughter, Trout, Turkey Hatchery, Turkey Raised Julie Weber, Section Chief (202) 317-0165 Cost of Pollination, Egg Products, Honey, Honey Bee Colonies, Milk Production 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. 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