chickens in a coop

Non-quota laying hen limit tripled

Small-scale farmers can now have 300 laying hens without quota

Farmers in Manitoba can now have up to 300 laying hens without having quota, Manitoba Egg Farmers announced June 8. The new limit for producers operating outside of the supply management system is triple what was available before. Cory Rybuck, general manager for Manitoba Egg Farmers said 300 hens will lay about 90,000 eggs a

eggs on flat cartons

Avian influenza in U.S. poultry puts the squeeze on Canadian egg imports

Shipments are costing more and taking longer to get here

A major avian influenza outbreak in the United States is forcing Canada’s layer industry to scramble for imported eggs and pay through the nose for them. As the AI outbreak continues south of the border, Canadian importers must look further afield for processing eggs, increasing delivery times and transportation costs. Manitoba sources most of its


chickens in a barn

Editorial: It’s time to rethink poultry production

The bird flu epidemic has wiped out 12 per cent of U.S. egg-laying capacity in a matter of weeks

The numbers surrounding the bird flu epidemic change each day. But they are staggering. Early this week, the USDA was reporting 197 confirmed outbreaks among poultry flocks with losses of 44.6 million fowl, many of them egg-laying hens. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) predicts the number of birds affected will climb to 50



Robin on nest

Why do some songbirds warm eggs longer than others?

Birds with a short lifespan put more effort into incubating their young

The amount of care parents provide their young varies greatly across the animal kingdom, particularly among songbird species, who spend anywhere from 20 per cent to nearly 100 per cent of daylight hours warming eggs in their nests. A team of researchers led by Thomas Martin, senior scientist and professor at UM’s Montana Cooperative Wildlife

avocado sliced in half

How to manage splurges at big-box food stores

Prairie Fare: Avocado Egg Scramble

Are we going to buy a pallet of baked beans today?” my husband teased. I grabbed the handle of the van-sized grocery cart and began strolling through the towers of food in the warehouse where food is sold in bulk quantities. I put a large bag of avocados in my cart even though I had


scrambled eggs

Feast your eyes on eggs

Prairie Fare: A recipe for Egg Muffins

When I was a toddler, my aunt often picked me up and took me out to eat at our local café. I chose the same menu item whether we went out for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon snack. “I’ll have trampled ‘oggs’ and totes,” I said to the waitress. I was about two years old




vintage newspaper advertisement

Roto-Egg washer

Our History: February 1958

You could clean and sanitize up to 10 dozen eggs every three to five minutes with this Roto-Egg egg washer advertised in our Feb. 6, 1958 issue. Other ads in that issue remind of how many farmers raised poultry at that time. Swifts advertised chicks for New Sky-Hi 314A breed, averaging 289 white eggs per