A third generation egg farmer in Abbotsford, British Columbia – Andrew Penner – recently acquired his family’s poultry farm in 2019. Having worked full-time on the farm for 3 years prior to taking over the operation, Andrew had already begun discussions with his family about changes that needed to be made for the future. Production had reached full capacity (20,000 layers) with their current facilities when a quota increase came in 2018. He knew that in order to continue farming long into the future, he needed to update his facilities – so he began dreaming up and planning for a new barn with larger capacity.
Andrew reflected on when his planning began, saying “I knew I wanted to grow and that I needed to move away from the battery cage system of the past. I was interested in cage free for a number of reasons. One, I believe demand from consumers for cage free eggs is going to increase as people are becoming more aware of where their food comes from and are increasingly prioritizing animal welfare. Two, I wanted to be able to farm in a facility where I get to interact with the birds more and get to see them engaging in their natural behaviors. Third, I wanted to be able to build a farm that was more innovative than simply moving from caged production to enriched.”
With these goals in mind, Andrew worked hard and spent many hours doing research on different types of systems that were available in the market. He visited several farms and talked with other egg producers as well to ultimately help him select which type of system was going to be the right fit for his farm.