Table 1. New England Cliick Hatcheries Ranked by Size 

 for the Years 1941, 1950 and I960.* 



Hatching Egg Years 



Capacity 



1941 1950 1960 



(thousand) (number) 



- 24.9 



25.0 - 49.9 



50.0 - 99.9 



100.0- 199.9 



200.0- 499.9 



500.0- 999.9 



1000.0-1499.9 



1500.0- 



Total hatcheries (number) 

 Total capacity (million eggs I 

 Average capacity 

 (thousand eggs) 



* Hatcheries and Dealers Participating in the National Poultry Improvement Plan, 

 U.S.D.A., ARS, 1941, 1950, 1960. 



II. Objectives and Source of Data 



The trend toward larger hatcheries integrated into other poultry 

 marketing operations has created a need for additional information con- 

 cerning economies of scale in hatcheries, efficient use of lahor and cap- 

 ital, and cost associated with chick distrihution. The first part of this 

 study presents the physical input-output relationships, operational pro- 

 cedures, investments, costs and economies of scale for inplant hatching 

 of straight-run broiler chicks. Two service operations performed by 

 some hatcheries, debeaking and vaccinating, are also analysed to deter- 

 mine what effect they have on resources and costs. 



In the second part of the study, chick distribution costs and re- 

 sources are developed under several sets of conditions. For each of the 

 several volumes, chicks are distributed into broiler producing areas the 

 sizes of which are determined by three different broiler production 

 density levels. This analysis determines how costs vary with increases in 

 volume for an expanding area with a constant density, and how costs 

 change with a constant volume and an increasing density. 



The final objective is to combine the synthesized costs of this study 

 with the costs of processing and broiler assembly developed in two pre- 

 vious studies. 2 This provides further information on the long-run costs 



~ Rogers, George B. and Bardwell, E. T., Marketing New England Poultry, 2. Econ- 

 omies of Scale in Chicken Processing, University of New Hampshire, Agricultural 

 Experiment Station Bulletin 459, April 1959; and Henry, W. F. and Burbee, C. R., 

 Marketing New England Poultry, 5. Effect of Firm Size and Production Density on 

 Broiler Assembly Costs, University of New Hampshire, Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion Bulletin 482, April 1964. 



