Barn Spotlight: Green Eggs & Goats Farm

Location: Carp, Ont.

Sector: Small layer flock

The business
A decade ago, the Marginsons – Corbin and Krista and their now-adult kids – moved from Ottawa to a 105-acre hobby farm in the rural suburb of Carp. Since then, they’ve populated their love project with a collection of several dozen layer chickens of various breeds, as well as geese, guinea fowl and pygmy goats. They also raise broilers and turkeys.  

The need
The handful of birds the Marginsons started out with – including Leghorns and heritage breeds – soon grew into a flock that no longer fit into the wooden coop with roosts and nests the family built when they moved to the farm. 

The bus
Two years ago, Corbin exchanged an old dump truck for a yellow school bus at a local scrap yard. After removing the engine and seats, it was towed to their property next to a small goat barn. Corbin equipped the bus with nesting boxes, roosts, and an automatic door that opens at 7:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m., allowing birds into a fenced yard. People access the bus through the sliding front door to collect eggs and provide water and feed. The back emergency door is used to remove manure, deposited into a trailer and spread on a hay field. The birds inhabit the bus year-round, with open windows for air circulation, and in winter, they huddle on 2X3 roosts for warmth. 

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.