Enriched Housing

This is one of the most modern types of housing and, in fact, we were the first in Ontario to install this progressive type of housing.

Living Conditions

While this system still relies on cages, the enclosures are larger and offer the hens more amenities. Hens are housed in smaller social groups, when compared to free run or free range, ranging from 16–60. There is room for the hens to perch and to lay their eggs in curtained nesting areas and, of course, they have 24-hour access to food and water.

Advantages/Disadvantages

Enriched colony housing provides the hens with advantages like curtained nesting areas where they can lay clean eggs in a private space. Small scratch pads are amongst the features that allow the hens to exhibit some of their instinctive  behaviours. Like conventional housing, enriched minimizes the chances of aggressive hen behaviour, like excessive pecking. However, it does cost more money to build these barns, which in turn drives up the cost of the eggs. The overall positive changes that enriched housing offers have led Canadian farmers to embrace this method.

Egg Collection

The eggs are rolled out from the curtained nesting area onto a conveyor belt for collection. These belts carry the eggs to a centralized collection area where the eggs are automatically packed wide-end up to keep the yolk centred.