Sperry Farms Inc., an egg producer and processing farm in Atlantic, Pa., has announced a $5 million expansion project. Currently, there are nearly 1 million birds on the farm, but the project is expected to increase the number of birds by about 20%.

The expansion commenced earlier this year and is expected to be completed by early 2017. It will include adding a 70 ft. x 450 ft. modern egg laying house with a capacity for holding 241,000 additional hens and adding a new 150 ft. x 200 ft. egg processing/packing facility. The company currently packs approximately 700,000 eggs a day.

Sperry Farms said a new 75 ft. x 420 ft. chick house located southwest of the main egg complex is already nearly 70% completed. It will be ready by late this fall to house baby chicks that will become laying hens.

A public open house will be held this fall before the new chicks arrive.

The latest expansion is the second major project at the farming complex in fewer than 10 years. In 2010, Sperry Farms finished a two-year building and rebuilding $3.5 million project that gave the facility a capacity of 900,000 hens.