WASHINGTON – Commercial hatcheries set 200 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Aug. 31, 2013, a 5 percent increase compared to the number of eggs set the corresponding week a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent.

Broiler growers placed 166 million chicks for meat production during the week ending Aug. 31, NASS reported. Placements increased 4 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from Dec. 30, 2012, through Aug. 31, 2013, totaled 5.78 billion, up 1 percent from the same period a year ago.