Table 6. Chicks Hatched as a Percentage of All Eggs Produced in 

 New England States in 1949 



times that of Maine. (See Table 6.) New Hampshire also hatches eggs 

 from other states, but the figure indicates the importance of New Hamp- 

 shire hatcheries as an outlet for hatching eggs. 



Reports from 23 hatcheries in 1947 on sales of almost 16,000,000 

 chicks indicated that about two-thirds of the chicks were going to the 

 northeast and eastern seaboard. (See Table 7.) 



Selling Procedures 



Hatching egg producers reported in 1947 that they sold the largest 

 percentage of their eggs as hatching eggs in the spring (68 percent) and 

 the smallest in the summer (63 percent). But they sold more hatching eggs 

 in the fall and winter than they did in the spring and summer. Total pro- 

 duction is highest in the winter months and lowest in summer. Those data 

 are shown in Table 4. 



Brokers who operate their own trucks usually pay for eggs as they 

 pick them up. Usually those which are shipped are paid for at certain 

 specified intervals, such as weekly or semi-monthly. Some go C.O.D. where 

 the credit of the purchaser is not well established. 



Some large shippers found it necessary to place or hire sales and 

 credit agents in the Del-Mar-Va area to look after their interests as they 

 could not check them close enough from New Hampshire. Some complaints 

 were made on the high cost of this service, but it seemed to be necessary. 

 Premiums on hatching eggs are usually based on Boston wholesale 

 market prices. Reports from 76 producers, in our survey covering 1947, indi- 

 cated average premiums as follows: low — 16.4 cents, high — 27.2 cents, 

 and average ■ — 20.6 cents per dozen above the Boston wholesale price. 

 Premiums of individual producers ranged from an average of 10 to 60 

 cents per dozen. 



A few large hatcheries pay premiums based on the hatchability of the 

 eggs. This is sound in that it encourages and rewards those who are main- 

 taining higher hatchability. It does mean extra bookkeeping. They say that 

 the producer with higher hatchability will be held longer and so will bene- 

 fit in selling a bigger percent of his eggs. The hatchery must have the con- 

 Table 7. Destination of chicks sold by 23 New Hampshire Hatcheries in 1947 



New England 31.3% 



Middle Atlantic States 35.9% 



Southern States 21.0% 

 Eastern Central States 8.3% 



Western Central States 3.2% 



Other .3% 



