Poultry and egg statistics

May 27, 2015

Egg production increased 3.9% in March from the same month a year earlier to 56.6 million dozen.

Egg production reached 666.6 million dozen in 2014, up 0.4% from 2013. The value of egg sales increased 0.2% from 2013 to $1.2 billion.

Placements of hatchery chicks on farms declined 3.5% to 56.3 million birds in April compared with the same month a year earlier.

Stocks of frozen poultry meat in cold storage on May 1, 2015, were up 6.0% from the same date a year earlier to 66 492 tonnes.

Canadian farmers produced 1.3 million tonnes of poultry meat in 2014. Chicken, including stewing hens, accounted for 86.7% of all poultry meat produced, up 1.6% from 2013. Turkey production stood at 167 899 tonnes in 2014, down 0.2% from the previous year. Sales of poultry meat, including turkey, decreased 2.8% to $2.8 billion.

Source: Statistics Canada

Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!