New Brooder Barn Construction

Years ago, we found ourselves in a situation of needing more brooder barn space, and lucky for us we were able to rent one within a mile of the main farm. Well, we recently were told the barn had been sold, and not only that, it was going to be torn down. We had planned building a barn of our own down the road, however with the recent sale of our rental property, that time came sooner than expected and we have already begun the building process.

Our brooder barn will actually be two separate barns positioned end to end, but will look as though they are one. The total dimensions are 42’ X 368’, and at full capacity, it can hold 40,000 birds. For those of you familiar with the Janesville area, it will be located on Oakhill Ave., next to our Hun building.

We have a stand-by generator that is located between the Brooder barn site and next to the Hun building. We planned this so that we are able to use the generator for both buildings without having to purchase a new one.

Over the course of one brooding season, the barn will house 120,000 birds. We will have 10,000 the first week, then an additional 10,000 birds the following week and yet another 10,000 the next. Once the first hatch reaches 3 weeks old, they will move to the other side of the barn, as they require more room.

Ryan George, our Food Service Business Manager, has been working with Bjoin Limestone here in Janesville to get the building site ready. From here, he hands over the reins to Brian Davis, our Brooder Manager. Along with Zac Johnson, Construction Manager, they have been in charge of this project.

During the winter months, the barn will house our white birds, which we use for dressed pheasants. As mentioned in a previous post, our dressed pheasant sales have been continuously rising, and we anticipate this rising trend to continue. The new barn construction really could not have come at a better time!