More than 9.882 billion broiler chicks were hatched last year compared with 9.872 billion in 2020 and 9.919 billion in 2019, no change from 2020 and 0.4 percent less than 2019, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in its Annual Hatchery Production 2021 Summary.
Broiler pullet chicks placed for the hatchery supply flock in 2021 totaled 103,452,000; in 2020, 98,410,000; and in 2019, 97,923,000. Pullet chicks placed last year were 5.1 percent higher than 2020 and 5.6 percent greater than 2019.
The top four states all set more than one billion broiler eggs in 2021 and were as follows:
| State | 2020 (egg sets/billion) | 2021 (egg sets/billion) | Change (%) |
| Georgia | 1.809 | 1.794 | -0.8 |
| Alabama | 1.732 | 1.730 | -0.1 |
| North Carolina | 1.265 | 1.293 | 2.2 |
| Arkansas | 1.232 | 1.269 | 3.0 |
Similarly, the top four states all placed more than one billion broiler chicken in 2021 and were as follows:
| State | 2020 (broiler chicks placed/billion) | 2021(broiler chicks placed/billion) | Change (%) |
| Georgia | 1.401 | 1.365 | -2.6 |
| Alabama | 1.268 | 1.229 | -3.1 |
| Arkansas | 1.123 | 1.113 | -0.9 |
| North Carolina | 1.029 | 1.029 | 0 |
For the implied hatchability for the top four states for 2021 unadjusted for three weeks to hatch and add chicks to any interstate movement of eggs and chicks is as follows:
| State | 2021 (egg sets/billion) | 2021 (chicks placed/billion) |
Hatchability (%) |
| Georgia | 1.794 | 1.365 | 76 |
| Alabama | 1.730 | 1.229 | 71 |
| North Carolina | 1.293 | 1.029 | 80 |
| Arkansas | 1.269 | 1.113 | 88 |
The number of hatcheries and incubator egg capacity on January 2021, and 2022 were as follows:
| United States | Hatcheries (number) |
Incubator egg capacity/1,000 eggs |
| 2021 2022 | 2021 2022 | |
| Chicken | 276 273 | 988,167 982,069 |
| Turkeys | 45 40 | 37,402 34,732 |
The report can be viewed here.
