Hen Housing Choices

The Care of Laying Hens in Manitoba

Egg farmers are responsible for the care and well-being of 2.6 million hens in our province, who lay 76 million dozen eggs a year.

To learn what hens are fed and to view a variety of different hen housing environments on local Manitoba farms, watch the videos below.

Enriched Housing

Enriched housing combines the food safety benefits of conventional housing with the welfare benefits of open housing.

4-D Farms Ltd. provides an inside view of their enriched housing environment.

Take a look inside Don and Shannon Gaultier’s enriched laying hen farm.

Kate Fleming Van Deynze says all family members pitch in to help on the enriched laying hen farm.

Free-Run

Free-Run Housing gives hens access to the entire barn floor area. Hens are able to perch, scratch and lay their eggs in nesting boxes.

Take a look inside the Siemens’ Free-Run aviary environment.

This video will take you inside Milton’s barn.

Free-Range

To offer the public greater choice, some egg farmers supply specialty eggs. These eggs may be slightly different in nutrient value than regular eggs or they may come from hens housed or fed in a special way.

Hens can forage for food outdoors, weather permitting.

What Do We Feed Our Hens?

Barn Tours

Conventional Housing

Conventional Housing provides hens with small group settings that enable all birds to have equal access to fresh food and water. Caged housing maximizes food safety.

In Manitoba, regulated egg farmers produce about 60 million dozen eggs each year.

Egg Farmers take pride in producing high quality eggs for Manitobans to enjoy.

This video will take you inside a conventional housing environment.