(NAFB.com) – U.S. egg production rose five percent year-over-year in April as the number of layers also increased, the USDA said in a monthly report. Output totaled 8.92 billion eggs last month, up from 8.49 billion during the same month last year. That included 7.65 billion table eggs and 1.27 billion hatching eggs. Of the latter, 1.16 billion were broiler types, and 112 million were egg types. U.S. egg layers on May 1 totaled 373 million, a four percent increase on an annual basis. That consisted of 307 million producing table eggs, 61.5 million laying broiler-type hatching varieties, and 4.61 million producing egg-type hatching eggs. Hatchings of egg-type chicks fell slightly to 61 million in April, while eggs in incubators on May 1 fell two percent to 59.5 million. April broiler-type chicks hatched rose three percent annually to 867 million, while eggs in incubators in early April totaled 770 million, also a three percent increase.
