Jobs will be lost in Nova Scotia and gained in New Brunswick later this month when Maple Leaf Foods closes its poultry plant in the Annapolis Valley.

The plant near Canning is set to close April 27, putting 380 people out of work.

Some hoped to get hired at the ACA Co-operative Ltd. chicken plant in nearby New Minas. But most of the farmers who supplied Maple Leaf have chosen to sell their birds in New Brunswick, which means fewer jobs locally.

"We were initially disappointed not to get more poultry, so we will be hiring some but not as many as we anticipated," said ACA chief executive officer Sue Payne.

Eighty per cent of the chicken once sold to Maple Leaf will be processed in New Brunswick. Though the price is comparable, many Nova Scotia farmers declined to split the quota between ACA and Nadeau Poultry Farm, near Edmundston.

Ron Testruda said it was Nadeau's customer base in Quebec that convinced him to take a three-year deal.

"ACA, although they could have processed all the birds, they didn't have a market for all of them at this time," he said. "It was the right move to make short term."

Nadeau is hiring an extra 70 people to slaughter birds that will be trucked from the Valley.

"We had to organize a second shift," said general manager Yves Landry.

Landry said Nadeau will eventually consider opening a plant with partners in Nova Scotia so it can keep the quota but avoid the expense and emissions from trucking live birds a long way from home.