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.