A carefully controlled environment that avoids crowding, chilling, overheating, or frightening is almost universal in poultry farming. Outdoor area providing five square feet per bird. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Poultry are quite susceptible to a number of diseases; some of the more common are fowl typhoid, pullorum, fowl cholera, chronic respiratory disease, infectious sinusitis, infectious coryza, avian infectious hepatitis, infectious synovitis, bluecomb, Newcastle disease, fowl pox, avian leukosis complex, coccidiosis, blackhead, infectious laryngotracheitis, infectious bronchitis, and erysipelas. Birds must not be transported for more than 100 kms or 2 hours by road. The birds must have access to free range or large open air runs and has contact with the natural ground. Only after the producer has met all the production regulations and had his birds, his own land and his books inspected farm can only be recommended for organic status. All yolk pigments must be of natural origin. In France the maximum size of house is 400 m. In U.K. it is wooden houses 2m x 5m x 1.5m height on skids moved by tractor. The ingredients must be clear and traceable. There are two regulations within the legislation that need to be considered. Do not feed kitchen scraps. Commercial poultry feeding is a highly perfected science that ensures a maximum intake of energy for growth and fat production. When formulating rations suitable for organic egg production it is necessary, as with any ration, to take into consideration not only the nutritional requirement of the bird and the legislative standards applicable to the diet. However, a further restriction on these products is the fact that they must not have been produced or prepared using chemical solvents. Additionally, annual egg production per hen has increased from about 100 in 1910 to over 300 in the early 21st century. Poultry Breeding Principles of Breeding. Limits on unit sizes and stocking density avoid intensive housing conditions, No routine prophylactic drug treatments-usually only individual animals which are actually ill are treated, and then are required to be treated, Homeopathic and/or Ayurvedic treatments are preferred to Allopathic, Animal health plans obligatory for each farm, to identify weaknesses and improvements required in the system for positive health. Antibiotics are widely used to stimulate appetite, control harmful bacteria, and prevent disease. Once approved, a certificate will be issued stating that the eggs are certified organic. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Feed is intended to ensure quality production rather than maximizing production. Calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chlorine, potassium, sulfur, manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, magnesium, and zinc are all required. Those of plant origin currently permitted, along with their by-products, include cereals, oil and legume seeds, tuber roots and forages. Intensive nutritional research and application, highly improved breeding stock, intelligent management, and scientific disease control have gone into the effort to give a modern broiler (meat chicken) of uniformly high quality produced at ever-lower cost. This article treats the principles and practices of poultry farming. 1.75 square feet per bird in the hen house. Due to the aforementioned issues it is obvious that organically produced raw materials are going to cost more to buy than their conventional counterparts. Premium Membership is now 50% off! Among the world’s agricultural industries, chicken breeding in the U.S. is one of the most advanced. Author of. Maximum use of heterosis, or hybrid vigour, through incrosses and crossbreeding has been made. Principles of Organic Poultry Farming 12/05/2019 by Guest Author 1 Comment Organic farming is a system of farming which aims to promote animal health and environmental sustainability through holistic management for positive health based on a biologically active soil. The feeding, watering, egg gathering, and cleaning operations are highly mechanized. For a discussion of the food value and processing of poultry products, see egg and poultry processing. Adequate ventilation to prevent ammonia build-up. High-quality and well-balanced protein sources produce a maximum amount of muscle, organ, skin, and feather growth. Poultry breeding is an outstanding example of the application of basic genetic principles of inbreeding and crossbreeding as well as of intensive mass selection to effect faster and cheaper gains in meat and maximum egg production for the egg-laying strains. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese are of primary importance, while guinea fowl and squabs (young pigeons) are chiefly of local interest. In the event of treatment, birds must be withdrawn from organic production for a period of 90 days or twice the official waiting period, whichever is greater. All the ingredients used to feed the laying hen must be from certified organic sources. To produce food of high quality in sufficient quantity, To interact in a constructive and life-enhancing way with natural systems and cycles, To consider the wider social and ecological impact of the organic, To encourage and enhance biological cycles within the farming system involving micro-organisms, soil flora, plants and animals, To maintain and increase the long-term fertility of soil, To maintain the genetic diversity of the production system and its surroundings, including the protection of plant and wildlife habitats, To use as far as possible renewable resources in locally organized production systems, To create a harmonious balance between crop production and animal husbandry. Organic standards prohibit the inclusion of genetically modified material and products produced using genetically modified organisms. It takes account of principles of poultry farming aspects of the B vitamins are also required free or. 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