Organic poultry housing: egg and meat production

Problems and unresolved questions in organic poultry and egg production concern the way the animals are kept, feeding, hygiene, animal health and suitable lines.

• Develop well-founded recommendations for practitioners and advisors on the keeping of laying hens, incl. flock sizes, the design of outdoor ranges, pasture management, hygiene measures and the control of parasites.
• Provide more suitable lines of layers and broilers for organic producers (suitability for free-ranging, prolonged lifetime of layers, sensible utilization of male chicks).
• Breeding objectives for exclusive lines for the organic production of meat birds are under development.

Projects

• Breeding poultry: evaluation of strains for qualification in free range systems
• Dual purpose poultry

Completed Projects

• Effect of lighted incubation on the behaviour of laying hen pullets (project description in the Organic Eprints Database)
• Optimising the use of hen runs by structures (project description in the Organic Eprints Database)
• Ethological investigation on moulting laying hens in organic farming (project description in the Organic Eprints Database)
• Killing of day-old chicks – situation analysis in Switzerland 2004 (project description in the Organic Eprints Database)
• Laying hen husbandry: Influence of flock size on behaviour and welfare
• Laying hen husbandry: hen run - manatement and vegetational cover
• Laying hen husbandry: hen run - effect of sand boxes
• Laying hen husbandry: structures to optimise use of hen run
• Laying hen husbandry: fear reaction of different strains
• Laying hen husbandry: use of hen run - management with scattering grains
• Laying hen husbandry: use of hen run with access through a corridor

Contact

Esther Zeltner

Literature

Literature on “Organic poultry housing: egg and meat production” in the Organic Eprints Database