Chickens and Eggs 2003 Annual Summary - By the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) - This report provides an annual summary of all the Chickens and Eggs production reports from 2003.

Highlights

Egg Production up slightly: Egg production during the year ending November 30, 2003 totaled a record high 87.2 billion eggs, up slightly from 2002.

Table egg production, at 74.4 billion eggs, was up slightly from the previous year. Hatching egg production, at 12.8 billion eggs, decreased 1 percent from 2002.

Average Number of Layers Down 1 Percent: Layer numbers during 2003 averaged 335 million, down 1 percent from the year earlier. The annual average production per layer on hand in 2003 was 259 eggs, up one percent from the 2002 average of 257.

December 1 Inventory Numbers: The total number of chickens on hand on December 1, 2003 (excluding commercial broilers) was 449 million birds, up 1 percent from last year.

The total value of all chickens on December 1, 2003 was $1.11 billion, up 5 percent from December 1, 2002. The average value increased from $2.37 per bird on December 1, 2002, to $2.47 per bird on December 1, 2003.

Special Note

Preliminary 2002 Census data were used in the review process for the 2003 and revised 2002 estimates in this publication. The revised estimates may appear disjointed from historical data until the release of the 5 - year Final Estimates publications which are scheduled for April 29, 2004.

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Source: USDA NASS - Chickens and Eggs Annual Summary Report - 30th January 2004