Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released October 7, 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 246 million eggs in incubators during the week ending October 3, 2026, up 2 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 2 Percent Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 190 million chicks for meat production during the week ending October 3, 2026, up 2 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through October 3, 2026 for the United States were 7.64 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 :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : August 29, :September 5, :September 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,736 34,797 34,975 34,601 34,730 34,169 Arkansas .....................: 26,008 25,548 24,728 25,683 26,101 26,021 Delaware .....................: 5,679 5,864 5,491 5,581 5,673 5,652 Georgia ......................: 34,830 35,667 34,356 34,140 35,346 34,101 Kentucky .....................: 7,764 7,731 7,172 7,710 7,837 7,882 Maryland .....................: 8,743 8,719 8,409 8,414 8,444 8,454 Mississippi ..................: 18,448 17,846 18,172 18,242 19,136 18,351 Missouri .....................: 9,038 8,677 8,623 8,693 8,669 8,991 North Carolina ...............: 25,985 25,392 24,936 25,718 25,670 25,616 Oklahoma .....................: 5,649 5,561 5,592 5,577 5,561 5,482 : Pennsylvania .................: 9,385 9,558 9,637 9,563 9,461 9,653 South Carolina ...............: 6,282 5,966 6,209 6,214 6,189 5,840 Texas ........................: 18,805 18,603 17,548 18,149 18,835 18,289 Virginia .....................: 5,483 5,484 5,772 5,785 5,786 5,612 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 16,020 16,108 15,863 15,703 16,112 16,181 : Other States .................: 17,417 17,131 17,154 17,531 16,056 16,134 : United States ................: 250,272 248,652 244,637 247,304 249,606 246,428 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : August 29, :September 5, :September 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 25,431 23,969 25,922 25,712 25,345 24,816 Arkansas .....................: 21,760 22,403 21,791 21,792 21,267 21,129 Delaware .....................: 5,825 5,320 5,341 5,947 5,487 5,836 Georgia ......................: 26,459 27,811 26,669 26,382 27,498 26,856 Kentucky .....................: 5,881 5,925 5,814 5,945 5,959 5,292 Maryland .....................: 6,636 6,865 6,840 5,979 5,899 5,163 Mississippi ..................: 15,595 14,766 15,226 14,611 13,950 14,073 Missouri .....................: 6,295 5,544 4,844 5,690 5,608 5,032 North Carolina ...............: 20,465 20,348 20,418 20,802 20,664 19,979 Oklahoma .....................: 2,996 3,273 4,143 3,807 4,128 3,864 : Pennsylvania .................: 5,437 5,247 5,457 5,407 5,526 5,496 South Carolina ...............: 5,471 5,465 5,049 4,919 4,647 4,902 Texas ........................: 14,328 13,519 14,434 14,650 14,478 13,347 Virginia .....................: 4,855 5,341 4,866 4,961 5,262 5,536 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 12,984 13,666 14,049 13,834 13,479 14,190 : Other States .................: 14,065 13,981 14,265 14,070 14,124 14,178 : United States ................: 194,483 193,443 195,128 194,508 193,321 189,689 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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, 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...................................................................................................... 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