I’ve made mention of my family’s farming operation here on my blog many times, and I will probably mention it many more times still. Farming is a central component of my own life, my family’s, and our ancestors, so it is arguably something I’m going to discuss here and there.
Our farm produces tobacco, ginseng, cash crop and chickens. Personally, I do the most work with our chicken barn, and I plan to continue to do so. I love agriculture and most of the work that accompanies it, chickens being no exception.
There are certainly farm jobs I don’t particularly enjoy doing, but that is an occurrence with just about any occupation.
Bringing your attention back to chickens, our barn is a broiler barn, meaning we raise chickens for consumption as opposed to raising them to produce eggs. We grow our birds until they’re between 2.2 and 2.5 kilograms, and different barns and producers raise varying sizes of birds. Our birds are processed and manufactured via Maple Lodge Farms and are then sent to supply stores, Costco being a prime example.
Our barn is two stories and the average crop is between 34,000 and 38,000 birds.
With our chicken barn, we produce chickens for Ontario and therefore abide by not only the Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s strict biosecurity and bird welfare policies, but furthermore, the Chicken Farmers of Canada’s stipulations. Abiding by these regulations means we are producing the best birds for public consumption possible, and we do not take our jobs lightly. We take pride in the work we do and in caring for our chickens to ensure they live high-quality life while they are in our care.
Referencing the Chicken Farmers of Ontario website, “Ontario boasts the largest chicken farming, processor and consumer base in Canada, with more than 200 million chickens grown every year by more than 1,300 independent, successful, family-run chicken farms and processed at over 15 primary processing facilities, and more than 20 custom processing operations. The total amount of economic activity generated across the Ontario chicken industry supply chain from the hatcheries to the farmers through to the primary processing is at least $4 billion each year. This level of economic activity sustains over 22,000 full time jobs.”
Here is hoping you now have a better comprehension of where the chicken you’re eating is coming from here in Ontario.
ontheedgeofeverything 
