By Sheila Phibbs
The Haldimand Press
SOUTH CAYUGA—Charlotte Huitema enjoyed growing up on the family egg farm, located between Dunnville and Cayuga, working in the barn alongside her siblings, Stephanie, Nicole, and John. Their routine was to do the egg gathering, always together, on Sundays. Their parents, Nick and Cindy, had taken the opportunity to buy the layer quota from their grandfather and Charlotte says, “I am forever grateful that my parents made that decision in 1997.”
When she was older, pursuing an education in the Recreation and Leisure program at Mohawk College, Charlotte felt the farm beckon. She says, “I realized in my second year that being away from the farm made me appreciate and realize the opportunity I had in my backyard.”
She finished at Mohawk and enrolled at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, obtaining a Diploma in Agriculture. She values the time she spent at both schools, gaining two different experiences in two very different programs. She says, “I am happy I attended both schools…. I gained and reached different goals … and built life-long relationships.”
Since graduating from Ridgetown, Charlotte has applied her agricultural education as a third generation egg farmer. Among her tasks are monitoring hen health, record keeping, ante room routines, egg weights, and maintenance and cleaning jobs. She is also responsible for booking the catching crew for when it’s time for the hens to leave, as well as handling the pullets when the new flock arrives. Hen care checks are conducted each morning by walking through the barn and stopping at each house to ensure that hens are looking well. Those requiring care are removed to a separate pen Charlotte refers to as the “hospital”, where their health and recovery can be monitored.
In 2018 the Huitemas built a new layer barn and adopted an enriched colony housing system. The state-of-the-art facility provides more space and perches for the chickens, as well as nesting boxes with privacy curtains and scratch pads. The egg packer puts the eggs in trays, which are advanced by conveyor belt to a side table. From there trays are placed in stacks of six and put on skids. This is more efficient than the previous practice of hand picking eggs every morning and afternoon.
The enriched colony system features in-house lighting, which allows lights to be dimmed from 100 to 0%. Dimming is programmed through the Genius system to gradually turn brighter over a period of minutes in the morning as the hens awaken and gradually dim over 15 minutes in the late afternoon for sleep time.
SOUTH CAYUGA—Above, Charlotte Huitema oversees the packing of the eggs onto trays. Behind her, various cameras showcase the barn for easy monitoring.
Cameras were installed in the barn as well as on the exterior and Charlotte explains, “This allows me to see what’s going on while I pack eggs; I can see the rest of the barn from the cameras and it provides additional bio-security, especially with the outdoor cameras.”
The cameras are connected to their phones as well, enabling them to monitor the barn when they are away from home, which Charlotte appreciates.
Currently the Huitema barn houses 12,000 hens and preparations are underway to install a fourth row of housing. Charlotte explains, “When we built the barn three years ago, we built so that we were able to grow and expand and one day add that next row.”
The eggs produced on the farm are shipped every Tuesday to Burnbrae Farms in Mississauga, where they are washed, candled, graded, sorted, and packaged. According to Charlotte, “Those eggs make their way onto grocery store shelves, and into bakeries and restaurants; four to seven days from farm to table.”
Since she was young, life on the farm has been balanced with involvement in community activities including 4-H, Junior Farmers, Oneida Queen of the Furrow, and sports. Charlotte says, “Growing up I enjoyed all of these activities and now I am happy that I can give back.” She is on the executives of her baseball league and the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario (JFAO) as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) representative. She appreciates that her job allows her to continue in sports such as golf, baseball (including umpiring), and the Haldimand Curling League in Cayuga.
Charlotte is also secretary of the Haldimand Federation of Agriculture (HFA). In this capacity she provides support to the president and decisions of the Board of the Directors, records and distributes meeting minutes, looks after correspondence, prepares information for meetings, and maintains files, along with other duties. As an added bonus, being a part of the HFA is something she can enjoy with her dad.
As egg farmers, Charlotte and her family understand the importance of their work both on the farm and out in the community. They see value in their role as “Egg Ambassadors”, meeting consumers and answering questions at local fairs, the Canadian National Exhibition, and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Charlotte says, “I think it’s important to participate in these events so that we can inform consumers and share how we egg farm.”
Considering how they farm, Charlotte sees a future that incorporates more technology. She says, “The work is becoming more environmentally conscious; agriculture is leading the way in doing this already, but this will become more and more important in the future. Having everyone on board to adapt to these changes will make it easier going forward.”
It is clear that everyone at Huitema Egg Farm is committed to efficiency and best practices as they produce a quality product for consumers. Charlotte states, “My family and I take a lot of pride in helping with the process of how eggs get from farm to the table.”
