BRIGHTON — Talk about resilience and dedication. While two poultry barns were burning Nov. 5 at Archer’s Poultry Farm, east of Brighton, the 28 employees were either fighting the blaze or gathering eggs.

At the end of the day, owner Stuart Archer had lost two of his light Leghorn breeder barns and 24,000 chickens, comprising half his operation.

Brighton Fire Chief Harry Tackaberry saved the two remaining barns by hopping on a farm tractor on site and knocking down the link between the burning and the surviving barns. Total damage has been estimated between $1.5 million and $2 million.

"There’ll be some hiccups," says Archer, who was philosophical about the loss. "There are worse things," he told Farmers Forum. Construction of replacement barns began almost immediately. The new barns are expected to be populated by t