US: House of Raeford invests in new hatchery

An affiliate of US poultry processor, House of Raeford Farms has announced plans to construct a new $16 million chicken hatchery.

A site for the new facility of Columbia Farms of Georgia, has not been finalised, but it will be located in the Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina area and is expected to take 15-18 months to construct.

“It is the right time to make a significant upgrade to our live production operations, and all of that starts with the early life of our birds”, said Jim Mabe, West Columbia/Leesville complex manager. “The result of this investment will be to provide our growers with a chick that is very consistent in size and quality”.

The hatchery will contain the most modern equipment available, designed to produce a healthy, viable chick. A single stage incubation system will allow for steady temperature control and consequently a higher hatch rate and better quality.

The entire operation will be fully automated providing for an extremely high level of sanitary conditions and a very efficient incubation and hatching process.

The West Columbia/Leesville complex, one of five operated by House of Raeford, currently works with 87 contract growers producing over 40 million chickens annually. The current operation includes a hatchery in Batesburg-Leesville; a feed mill in Monetta, SC; and a processing plant located in W. Columbia.

House of Raeford Farms is one of the US’s top ten largest chicken processors, providing ready-to-cook chicken and further processed chicken and turkey products to the foodservice, retail, and export markets.