Broiler sets and placements were up on both the week and the year.

The USDA says 244.895 million broiler-type eggs were set into incubators, slightly higher than the previous week and 1% above a year ago, with the average hatchability holding around 79%.

Once hatched, those chickens will head to meat production in April.

There were 187.998 million chicks placed into the meat production system, a modest increase from the week before and last year, with those birds moving to market late this spring.

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