DUNNVILLE—Cindy Huitema and her youngest daughter, Charlotte, are egg farmers making a difference in their industry both on and off the farm. At home they care for their hens with a standard of practice that ensures a quality product. In the community, they are using their “eggs-perience” to educate the public about farming and food production.
Originally from Waterloo County, Cindy grew up gathering eggs with her brothers and sisters on the family farm. She met her husband, Nick, through Junior Farmers and moved to the farm in Dunnville – a farrow to finish swine operation – when they married in 1985.
In 1998 they diversified, purchasing her father’s chicken quota (enough for 2,200 laying hens). They built a laying hen barn that would allow for future growth and a year later added another 1,800 units of layer quota.
With four children – Stephanie, Nicole, John, and Charlotte – Cindy established a barn routine that worked around the family’s needs, gathering eggs early in the morning and again in the afternoon before the kids got home from school. Charlotte recalled, “Mom would have eggs done before getting us on the bus.”
Charlotte’s childhood memories include gathering eggs with her siblings. According to Cindy, “The barn proved to be a great place for our kids to garner a good work ethic and to bring their friends, especially for birthday parties…. Instant and hands-on activity and entertainment.”
In 2013, they made the decision to end pork production. Cindy recalled, “The pig barn was gradually emptied and ceased operation after 28 years…. A very difficult decision emotionally and financially.”
Just a few years later, they began the process of building a new layer barn, moving away from conventional housing in compliance with a mandate from Egg Farmers of Canada.
“We researched the different barn types,” Cindy said. “Our choice has always been enriched colony housing.”
This system keeps laying hens in larger, furnished enclosures equipped with amenities like perches, scratch pads, and private nest boxes.
A new Environmental Farm Plan was required and submitted in 2017 with the new barn completed on May 19, 2018. Cindy shared this journey in 10 blog-style articles for the Canadian Poultry magazine, calling herself “Cindy Egg Farmerette”.
“I felt it was important for other egg farmers facing the same struggle to have some insight,” she explained.
“Our new barn is still a workplace,” she added, “but a nicer environment for the hens and for us.”
The work includes morning and afternoon hen care checks, cleaning, and record keeping. Feed and water are monitored to ensure everything is working. Cindy said, “Chickens not drinking is a sign that something is wrong. It’s usually mechanical.”
Charlotte has worked on the farm full time since graduating from the Agriculture Diploma program at Ridgetown College in 2019.
She is responsible for packing eggs every day. The hens produce 90 stacks each day, which combine to make 10 skids in a week. The farm ships approximately 108,000 eggs weekly to Burnbrae Farms in Mississauga.
As secretary of the Haldimand Federation of Agriculture, Charlotte also works with the board members, who represent different commodity groups, to support Haldimand farmers and promote agriculture in the community.
Both mother and daughter volunteer in the Egg Farmers of Ontario (EFO) booth at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Cindy observed there is not as great a focus on agriculture at the CNE now as there was when she started in 1999. While at these events she said, “Our biggest thing is making sure they know that we’re farmers.”
Locally, Agstravaganza and the Caledonia Fair’s Meet Your Local Farmer tent are opportunities to connect with the public. Cindy has also led several Get Cracking clubs in Haldimand 4-H. Simply put, she said, “I have always been passionate about egg farming.”
Charlotte shares that passion. She and her brother are currently involved in EFO’s Agriculture in the Classroom program, sharing their experience as third-generation egg farmers.
“I teach them about my egg farming family, the egg farm, what (the hens) are fed,” Charlotte explained. The students learn facts about eggs and farming and do an egg packing challenge.
In the past school year, Charlotte made 41 classroom visits in Haldimand, Hamilton, Niagara, and Mississauga. There are handouts and giveaways to reinforce learning, and teachers are left with additional information to continue lessons on eggs.
Charlotte is confident that the program makes an impression on the students; while shopping one day she was recognized by a child whose classroom she had visited. She said, “It’s good that the Egg Board is doing this.”
Last spring, Charlotte joined her mom at the Bite of Brant in Burford. During the two-day event they ‘egg-ucated’ 20 Grade 5 classes each day. Cindy said, “In those two days, we reached 1,000 students.”
“There’s a huge value in these events,” Charlotte said. “It’s education for the next generation.”
That education is helping draw attention to the work of both men and women on the farm. This is timely as 2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Cindy said, “I think that women are more recognized now than when I started farming because of all these outreach things that we do.”
Through that outreach, farmers like Cindy and Charlotte Huitema are telling their stories to increase agricultural awareness and educate the public about the food on their plates and the people who are putting it there.
