Construction of S'pore's 4th egg farm facing cost, biosecurity challenges

Slated to open in 2024, modifications to facility's design could delay completion

- Cheryl Tan

Singapore's fourth egg farm, slated to begin operations in 2024, is facing delays attributed to rising construction costs and challenges linked to its biosecurity measures, The Straits Times has learnt.

When fully operational, the $100 million farm would have the capacity to produce 360 million eggs a year.

This would enable Singapore to meet up to 50 per cent of its egg consumption needs up from around 29 per cent as at 2022 moving the country closer to achieving its 30 by 30 goal of producing 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.

The farm, owned by local company ISE Foods Holdings (IFH), aims to cover the full ecosystem of egg production here, which can help enhance Singapore's food security.

The firm's egg laying facility in Lim Chu Kang was supposed to commence operations in 2024, followed by a day-old chick hatchery at the same site, a parent pullet farm in Tuas and a parent layer farm in Sungei Tengah.

A parent pullet farm rears young chickens till they are around 16 to 18 weeks old. These mature chickens are then transferred to the parent layer farm to breed and produce fertile eggs, which are sent to the hatchery.

The female chicks that hatch will then be transported to the commercial egg farm, where they are reared as egg-producing hens.

IFH expects to produce some five million day-old chicks yearly.