Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 83 percent.
NASS added that US broiler growers in the 19-state area placed 156 million chicks for meat production during the same week, down four percent from the comparable week one year earlier.
Cumulative placements from 1 January 2006 through 18 November 2006 were 7.94 billion broiler chicks – down one percent from the same period in 2005.