Egg production is concentrated in south-eastern Manitoba, with about three-quarters of production taking place within an 80-km radius of Winnipeg. The industry includes hatcheries, started pullets, feed production, egg production, graders and further processors.

Three provincial hatcheries set an estimated 15 million eggs in 1999 and hatched about 6 million chicks. Over 3.0 million pullet chicks were placed either in Manitoba pullet operations or sold out-of-province. In 1999, there were 180 registered egg producers and about unregistered producers with more than 2.1 million layers.

Manitoba commercial egg marketings in 1999 (registered and unregistered production) rose by 4.4 percent to 51.53 million dozen valued at $60 million. Three commercial grading stations and 36 registered farmer graders in the province graded 49.08 million dozen eggs in 1999. Registered producers marketed about 2.45 million dozen eggs privately. Jumbo, X-large and large make up 56.4% of all eggs graded. Of total Manitoba egg marketings (excluding hatching eggs), 22.06 million dozen went to local processors and 29.47 million dozen were retailed as table eggs to consumers in Manitoba and other provinces. The prices Manitoba producers receive for their eggs are determined by a formula based on the average cost of production over a given time period.

Manitoba has two egg processing companies, which produce many innovative, value-added products for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Canadian Inovatech Inc., the largest egg processor in Canada, and Burnbrae Farms Ltd. These two operations shipped all the province’s processed egg product exports, valued at $16.59 million, in 1999. Manitoba’s egg industry has the potential to grow by supplying eggs for processing market growth. The egg processors continue to develop numerous products from egg white, yolk and shell.