Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released October 14, 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 3 Percent Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 245 million eggs in incubators during the week ending October 10, 2026, up 3 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 79.5 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 190 million chicks for meat production during the week ending October 10, 2026, up 1 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through October 10, 2026 for the United States were 7.83 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 :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :September 5, :September 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,797 34,975 34,246 34,730 33,745 34,355 Arkansas .....................: 25,548 23,897 24,850 26,101 26,021 26,073 Delaware .....................: 5,864 5,491 5,581 5,673 5,652 5,652 Georgia ......................: 35,667 34,356 34,175 35,346 34,101 34,958 Kentucky .....................: 7,731 7,172 7,842 7,837 7,882 7,906 Maryland .....................: 8,719 8,409 8,414 8,444 8,454 8,633 Mississippi ..................: 17,846 18,383 18,247 19,136 17,853 18,159 Missouri .....................: 8,677 8,623 8,320 8,669 8,991 8,824 North Carolina ...............: 25,392 24,936 25,226 25,670 25,616 24,715 Oklahoma .....................: 5,561 5,592 5,532 5,561 5,482 5,185 : Pennsylvania .................: 9,558 9,637 9,592 9,461 9,666 9,289 South Carolina ...............: 5,966 6,209 6,214 6,189 5,840 5,711 Texas ........................: 18,603 17,548 18,347 18,835 18,289 17,781 Virginia .....................: 5,484 5,772 5,801 5,786 5,612 5,509 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 16,108 15,863 15,081 16,112 16,181 15,806 : Other States .................: 17,131 17,154 17,531 16,056 16,134 16,748 : United States ................: 248,652 244,017 244,999 249,606 245,519 245,304 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :September 5, :September 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 23,969 25,922 25,712 25,285 24,816 23,300 Arkansas .....................: 22,403 21,791 21,792 21,267 20,482 20,288 Delaware .....................: 5,320 5,340 5,947 5,487 5,836 5,445 Georgia ......................: 27,811 26,669 26,382 27,498 26,856 27,545 Kentucky .....................: 5,925 5,914 5,945 5,959 5,292 5,896 Maryland .....................: 6,865 6,840 5,979 5,899 5,163 6,029 Mississippi ..................: 14,766 15,226 14,611 13,950 14,284 14,495 Missouri .....................: 5,544 4,844 5,690 5,608 5,032 5,568 North Carolina ...............: 20,348 20,418 20,802 20,664 19,979 20,373 Oklahoma .....................: 3,273 4,143 3,807 4,128 3,864 3,799 : Pennsylvania .................: 5,227 5,457 5,407 5,526 5,500 5,380 South Carolina ...............: 5,465 5,049 4,919 4,647 4,902 4,661 Texas ........................: 13,509 14,434 14,650 14,478 13,347 14,318 Virginia .....................: 5,341 4,866 4,961 5,262 5,536 5,126 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 13,666 14,049 13,834 13,479 14,190 13,625 : Other States .................: 13,981 14,265 14,070 14,124 14,061 14,447 : United States ................: 193,413 195,227 194,508 193,261 189,140 190,295 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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