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Chick Hatchery Bringing Jobs to Woodstock

Monday, 23 April 2018 at 12:38

About 100 commercial farms across Western Ontario will reap the benefits of a new chick hatchery right here in Woodstock.

WOODSTOCK - Over a year of planning and construction and now a 15 million dollar chick hatchery is set to begin production early next month.  

The project is collaboration with Sargent Farms and Boire & Freres and brings about 30 new jobs to the area.  

Kevin Thompson, CEO with Sargent Farms says Woodstock was the ideal location for the project. 

"It's in an excellent location; right in the heart chicken production both on the hatching egg side - which is basically our input - as well as the chicken farming side which is where our customers will be. It's a great location geographically."

The hatchery will operate under the name The Thames River Hatchery and is considered a one of a kind, large scale hatchery, and first of its kind to be built in Ontario in the past 30 years.    

Most of the general public may not know what happens at a hatchery, but Thompson says it is quite simple, especially with their state of the art equipment.

"They are fertilized at the farm before they come to the hatchery. Basically they are incubated there where it takes 21 days, we process the chicks, vaccinate them and then they go out to Ontario farmers. "

The impressive facility will service about 100 commercial farms across Western Ontario and has the capacity to produce 20 million chicks per year.

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