Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released October 21, 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 246 million eggs in incubators during the week ending October 17, 2026, up 3 percent from a year ago. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week in the United States was 79.7 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 193 million chicks for meat production during the week ending October 17, 2026, up 2 percent from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through October 17, 2026 for the United States were 8.03 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 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : October 17, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,975 34,246 34,285 33,745 34,506 34,362 Arkansas .....................: 23,897 24,850 25,818 26,021 26,073 25,693 Delaware .....................: 5,491 5,581 5,673 5,582 5,584 5,652 Georgia ......................: 34,356 34,175 35,301 34,101 34,938 34,696 Kentucky .....................: 7,172 7,842 7,948 7,882 7,906 7,956 Maryland .....................: 8,409 8,414 8,444 8,454 8,633 8,496 Mississippi ..................: 18,383 18,247 19,166 17,853 17,555 17,484 Missouri .....................: 8,623 8,320 8,654 8,991 8,824 8,571 North Carolina ...............: 24,936 25,226 25,649 25,612 24,744 25,318 Oklahoma .....................: 5,592 5,532 5,561 5,482 5,185 5,547 : Pennsylvania .................: 9,637 9,592 9,274 9,666 9,378 9,489 South Carolina ...............: 6,209 6,214 6,189 5,840 5,711 5,622 Texas ........................: 17,548 18,347 18,795 18,289 17,781 18,066 Virginia .....................: 5,772 5,801 5,816 5,612 5,509 5,553 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 15,863 15,081 15,794 16,181 15,806 15,906 : Other States .................: 17,154 17,531 16,056 16,134 16,748 17,353 : United States ................: 244,017 244,999 248,423 245,445 244,881 245,764 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :September 12,:September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : October 17, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 25,922 25,712 25,285 24,816 23,313 25,451 Arkansas .....................: 21,791 21,792 21,267 20,482 20,323 21,696 Delaware .....................: 5,340 5,947 5,487 5,283 4,915 5,288 Georgia ......................: 26,669 26,382 27,498 26,856 27,551 26,179 Kentucky .....................: 5,814 5,945 5,959 5,292 5,896 6,034 Maryland .....................: 6,840 5,979 5,899 5,697 7,045 6,705 Mississippi ..................: 15,226 14,611 13,950 14,284 14,504 15,311 Missouri .....................: 4,844 5,690 5,608 5,032 5,568 5,714 North Carolina ...............: 20,418 20,802 20,664 20,069 20,453 20,934 Oklahoma .....................: 4,143 3,807 4,128 3,864 3,799 3,687 : Pennsylvania .................: 5,457 5,407 5,526 5,500 5,534 5,277 South Carolina ...............: 5,049 4,919 4,647 4,902 4,661 5,040 Texas ........................: 14,434 14,650 14,478 13,347 14,318 14,259 Virginia .....................: 4,866 4,961 5,262 5,763 4,842 5,479 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 14,049 13,834 13,479 14,190 13,625 12,863 : Other States .................: 14,265 14,070 14,124 14,061 14,457 13,381 : United States ................: 195,127 194,508 193,261 189,438 190,804 193,298 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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...................................................................................................... (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. 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.