Intended U.S. placements of broiler pullet chicks for the hatchery supply flock for April 2012 were 6,524,000, a 7-percent decrease from the 7,044,000 pullet chicks placed in April 2011, according to the “Chickens and Eggs” report issued this week by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The April pullet chicks combined with the previous eight months give a 7-to-15-month cumulative total of 60,482,000 hens in November 2012. The 60,482,000 cumulative potential pullet placements represent a 5-percent decrease when compared with the number for November 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 | 2012 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | ||||||||
| –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | –000– | -%-* | |
| January | 7,142 | 102 | 6,637 | 93 | 6,557 | 99 | 6,673 | 102 | 62,833 | 95 | 62,996 | 100 | 64,111 | 102 |
| February | 7,215 | 96 | 7,021 | 97 | 7,284 | 104 | 7,025 | 96 | 62,005 | 95 | 63,283 | 102 | 63,679 | 101 |
| March | 6,773 | 96 | 6,673 | 99 | 7,058 | 106 | 6,753 | 96 | 62,142 | 95 | 63,250 | 102 | 63,323 | 100 |
| April | 6,240 | 88 | 6,825 | 109 | 7,044 | 103 | 6,524 | 93 | 62,672 | 96 | 63,751 | 102 | 63,209 | 99 |
| May | 7,658 | 93 | 8,351 | 109 | 7,721 | 92 | 61,918 | 95 | 63,990 | 103 | 62,941 | 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 | 64,388 | 104 | 61,556 | 96 | ||
| September | 7,110 | 103 | 7,128 | 100 | 6,657 | 93 | 61,663 | 98 | 63,321 | 103 | 60,860 | 96 | ||
| October | 6,388 | 91 | 6,876 | 108 | 6,289 | 91 | 61,179 | 98 | 63,251 | 103 | 60,402 | 95 | ||
| November | 7,346 | 105 | 7,589 | 103 | 6,890 | 91 | 61,790 | 99 | 63,620 | 103 | 60,482 | 95 | ||
| December | 6,627 | 101 | 6,771 | 102 | 6,438 | 95 | 62,978 | 101 | 64,028 | 102 | ||||
| Annual Total | 83,033 | 97 | 84,987 | 102 | 82,826 | 98 | **62,119 | 97 | **63,757 | 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 May 1, 2012 was 52,795,000 hens, a 6-percent decrease from 56,161,000 hens on May 1, 2011.
