Barn Spotlight: Davalen Enterprises Ltd.

Sector: Layers

Location: Abbotsford, B.C.

The business
Henry and Deb Penner have owned Davalen Farms Ltd. for about 40 years. The egg farm includes seven barns and a 100,000-bird quota. For the past several years, barn managers Mark Doerksen  and Dave Hiebert have run the operation full-time. 

The need
With their conventional barns aging, the team thought it was time for an update. Also, with the regulations stipulating that producers must phase out conventional housing by 2036, they wanted to get ahead of the curve. Thus, they decided to build a new enriched barn to move half of their production into.

A feed chain provides a reliable supply.

The barn includes five tiers and four rows of Big Dutchman’s Avech 2242 enriched system. Photo:AgPro West Supply

The barn includes a Skov monitoring system.

The barn
Working with AgPro West Supply, they selected Big Dutchman’s Avech 2240, the company’s widest enriched system, “so we can get the best bang for our buck,” the managers say. The barn includes five tiers and four rows. They installed ceiling exhaust fans and inlets, which is uncommon in the Fraser Valley region. That’s because there was another barn with side wall inlets only 14 feet away. The barn opened in February and the managers were impressed with the climate inside. “The temperature is just rock solid – we’re only half a degree off from front to back.”  

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.