McKinley Hatchery has announced plans for an 11,000 square ft. expansion of its facility at St. Mary’s, Ontario, to modernize its operation and boost productivity. Annual production will increase to over 12 million day-old leghorn chicks per year.
McKinley has chosen hatchery technologies from Royal Pas Reform for the expansion, including 5x SmartSetPro™ 6 setters and 12x SmartHatchPro™ hatchers. The construction and installation of the new incubation equipment is expected to be completed by November 2024.
Drew Corneil, McKinley’s current General Manager and 2nd generation hatchery operator, says: “In 2024 we celebrate 90 years of operations and 45 years of my family’s involvement in McKinley Hatchery. We felt there was no better time to make our largest-ever investment in the business, to set it up for another 90 years of growth.”
Working with Quebec-based Sollio Agriculture to distribute chicks across Eastern Canada, the St. Mary’s facility is already the biggest hatchery of leghorn chickens in Canada – distributing over 7 million day-old chicks per year. Together with Sollio Agriculture, McKinley can provide geographic diversity in breeder operations that is unrivalled in the marketplace.
Over recent years, the company has completed no less than four building projects to expand and update its breeder capacity. This hatchery expansion is the 4th phase of a project that started in 2020 to take capacity from 7.5 million to 12 million day-old chicks a year. “Pas Reform has been a great partner in this expansion,” says Drew Corneil. “They have provided timely and knowledgeable sales support, along with excellent post-sales follow up on both the mechanical and hatch-quality sides of operation.”
Company President, Al Corneil says: “Breeding stock, hatching capacity and technical support are the keys to our success. McKinley Hatchery’s job is to provide a top-quality chick, when our customer wants it. Adding best-in-the-business technical support, results in top performance for our customers across our 2,500 km-wide distribution area. We take great pride in being able to service farmers across Eastern Canada.”
Ken Long, Sales Director of Royal Pas Reform, says: “We thank Drew and the McKinley team for their continued trust in Pas Reform equipment and service and wish the company many more years of successful business.”
