Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released October 28, 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 Slightly Hatcheries in the United States weekly program set 246 million eggs in incubators during the week ending October 24, 2026, up slightly 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 Slightly Broiler growers in the United States weekly program placed 188 million chicks for meat production during the week ending October 24, 2026, up slightly from a year ago. Cumulative placements from the week ending January 10, 2026 through October 24, 2026 for the United States were 8.21 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 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : October 17, : October 24, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 34,246 34,285 33,655 34,506 34,362 35,039 Arkansas .....................: 24,850 25,818 25,352 25,873 25,693 24,884 Delaware .....................: 5,581 5,673 5,582 5,584 5,404 5,613 Georgia ......................: 34,175 35,301 34,101 34,938 34,696 34,669 Kentucky .....................: 7,842 7,948 7,945 7,906 7,956 7,806 Maryland .....................: 8,414 8,444 8,454 8,633 8,496 8,504 Mississippi ..................: 18,247 19,166 17,043 17,555 17,484 17,210 Missouri .....................: 8,320 8,654 8,800 8,824 8,571 8,087 North Carolina ...............: 25,226 25,649 25,642 24,744 25,411 25,740 Oklahoma .....................: 5,532 5,561 5,685 5,185 5,547 5,792 : Pennsylvania .................: 9,592 9,274 9,621 9,378 9,489 9,496 South Carolina ...............: 6,214 6,189 5,840 5,711 5,622 5,895 Texas ........................: 18,347 18,795 17,775 17,781 18,066 19,217 Virginia .....................: 5,801 5,816 5,612 5,509 5,553 5,918 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 15,081 15,794 16,003 15,806 15,906 15,896 : Other States .................: 17,531 16,443 16,134 16,748 17,353 16,229 : United States ................: 244,999 248,810 243,244 244,681 245,609 245,995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - Selected States and United States: 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :September 19,:September 26,: October 3, : October 10, : October 17, : October 24, : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 : 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 25,712 25,285 24,816 23,313 25,606 23,660 Arkansas .....................: 21,792 21,267 20,482 20,323 21,696 20,660 Delaware .....................: 5,947 5,487 5,283 4,915 5,036 5,668 Georgia ......................: 26,382 27,498 26,856 27,551 26,179 26,065 Kentucky .....................: 5,945 5,959 5,292 5,896 6,034 5,679 Maryland .....................: 5,979 5,899 5,697 7,045 6,757 6,267 Mississippi ..................: 14,611 13,950 14,284 14,504 15,156 13,601 Missouri .....................: 5,690 5,608 5,032 5,568 5,714 6,060 North Carolina ...............: 20,802 20,664 20,069 20,453 21,019 20,542 Oklahoma .....................: 3,807 4,128 3,864 3,799 3,787 4,125 : Pennsylvania .................: 5,407 5,526 5,500 5,534 5,277 5,219 South Carolina ...............: 4,919 4,647 4,902 4,661 5,040 5,210 Texas ........................: 14,650 14,478 13,347 14,318 14,259 13,724 Virginia .....................: 4,961 5,262 5,763 4,842 5,479 4,823 California, Tennessee, : and West Virginia ...........: 13,825 13,158 14,013 13,425 12,681 13,431 : Other States .................: 14,070 14,124 14,061 14,457 13,561 13,569 : United States ................: 194,499 192,940 189,261 190,604 193,281 188,303 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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