Barn Spotlight: Ferme Avicole St-Bruno Inc.

Location: St-Justine-de-Newton, Que.

Sector: Layers and pullets

The business
Ferme Avicole St-Bruno Inc. stands as a testament to innovation and evolution. Owned and operated by Jimmy and Akshu Sarkaria, this egg farm has been a fixture in the poultry business since the mid-80s. It was founded by Jimmy’s father Manjinder Sarkaria. 

The need
The producers were driven to build new barns by a desire to explore alternative housing. Having transitioned from traditional cage systems to enriched cages, the Sarkaria family, drawn by the prospect of improved bird welfare, took a bold step into free-run farming. Jimmy Sarkaria shares, “It’s kind of intimidating to go into free run, coming from such a background of caged systems — it seems like a big step.” But they felt confident making the leap after consulting with experts. 

The Sarkarias use their double layer barn to alternate between white and brown flocks six months apart.

Jimmy and Akshu Sarkaria inside one of their new layer barns. Both the layer and pullet barns include free-run housing systems from Vencomatic.

The producers open the doors to their pullet system at around seven weeks so the birds can move freely.

The barn
The crown jewels of the business now include a free-run pullet barn and two interconnected free-run layer barns. Vencomatic equipment, such as the Bolegg Starter and Bolegg Gallery with a VMS system, ensures optimal conditions. Construction began in April 2022, with the first pullet flock introduced in November 2022. The layer barns received their first birds in March 2023. Jimmy Sarkaria highlights the surprising health and happiness of the birds in the free-run system. Skepticism about the transition faded as low mortality rates and excellent feather coverage became evident. 

Barn Spotlight highlights new and renovated barns and hatcheries. Do you know of a good candidate to be featured? Let us know at poultry@annexweb.com.