Intended U.S. placements of broiler pullet chicks for the hatchery supply flock for December 2011 were 6,438,000, a 5-percent decrease from the 6,771,000 pullet chicks placed in December 2010, according to the “Chickens and Eggs” report issued last week by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The December pullet chicks combined with the previous eight months give a 7-to-15-month cumulative total of 61,927,000 hens in July 2012. The 61,927,000 cumulative potential pullet placements represent a 4-percent decrease when compared with the number for July 2011.
| U.S. Broiler-Type Hatchery Supply Flock Pullet Chicks Hatched and Cumulative Potential Placements | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pullet Chicks Hatched | Potential Placements, Cumulative 7-15 months earlier | |||||||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |||||||
| –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | |
| January | 7,142 | 102 | 6,637 | 93 | 6,989 | 105 | 62,833 | 95 | 62,996 | 100 | 64,366 | 102 |
| February | 7,215 | 96 | 7,021 | 97 | 7,107 | 101 | 62,005 | 95 | 63,283 | 102 | 63,934 | 101 |
| March | 6,773 | 96 | 6,673 | 99 | 7,058 | 106 | 62,142 | 95 | 63,250 | 102 | 63,578 | 101 |
| April | 6,240 | 88 | 6,825 | 109 | 7,044 | 103 | 62,672 | 96 | 63,751 | 102 | 63,464 | 100 |
| May | 7,658 | 93 | 8,351 | 109 | 7,721 | 92 | 61,918 | 95 | 63,990 | 103 | 62,764 | 98 |
| June | 7,157 | 100 | 7,128 | 100 | 7,211 | 101 | 62,049 | 96 | 64,558 | 104 | 62,547 | 97 |
| July | 6,214 | 96 | 6,675 | 107 | 6,444 | 97 | 61,903 | 96 | 64,656 | 104 | 61,927 | 96 |
| August | 7,163 | 93 | 7,313 | 102 | 7,233 | 99 | 62,300 | 97 | 64,820 | 104 | ||
| September | 7,110 | 103 | 7,128 | 100 | 6,657 | 93 | 61,663 | 98 | 63,576 | 103 | ||
| October | 6,388 | 91 | 6,876 | 108 | 6,289 | 91 | 61,179 | 98 | 63,506 | 104 | ||
| November | 7,346 | 105 | 7,589 | 103 | 6,890 | 91 | 61,790 | 99 | 63,875 | 103 | ||
| December | 6,627 | 101 | 6,771 | 102 | 6,438 | 95 | 62,978 | 101 | 64,283 | 102 | ||
| Annual Total | 83,033 | 97 | 84,987 | 102 | 83,081 | 98 | **62,119 | 97 | **63,879 | 103 | ||
| Source: Chickens and Eggs NASS/USDA * Comparison with one year earlier. ** Annual Average | ||||||||||||
Note: All generations of layers that would lay eggs to supply a hatchery are included: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, pedigree, foundation, and similar. Any pullet chicks used for research purposes, vaccine production, and specific-pathogen-free layers that are in broiler-type hatchery supply flocks are also included in the data.
Also, in the current issue of “Chickens and Eggs,” NASS reported that the actual number of layers in the broiler-type hatching egg flock on January 1, 2012 was 50,885,000 hens, a 7-percent decrease from 54,855,000 hens on January 1, 2011.
