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Poultry farming is the practice of raising poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, as a subcategory of animal husbandry, for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. The vast majority of poultry are raised using modern farming techniques. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way.^[1]

The contrasting method of poultry farming is free range farming.

Friction between these two main methods has led to long term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of modern farming argue that it harms the environment and creates health risks, as well as abusing the animals themselves. Advocates of modern farming say that their highly efficient systems save land and food resources due to increased productivity, stating that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art environmentally controlled facilities. ^[2] A few countries have banned cage system housing, including Sweden and Switzerland. Consumers can still purchase lower cost eggs from other countries' modern poultry farms.

[edit] Techniques

[edit] Free range

Free Range Chickens being fed outdoors.

Main article: Free range

Free range poultry farming consists of poultry permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says that a free range chicken must have daytime access to open-air runs during at least half of their life. Unlike in the United States, this definition also applies to eggs. The European Union regulates marketing standards for egg farming which specifies a minimum condition for Free Range Eggs states that "hens have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities".^[3]

[edit] Yarding

Main article: Yarding

Ducks and other poultry

While often confused with free range farming, yarding is actually a separate method of poultry culture by which chickens and cows are raised together. The distinction is that free-range poultry are either totally unfenced, or the fence is so distant that it has little influence on their freedom of movement. Yarding is common technique used by small farms in the Northeastern US.

Daily releases out of hutches or coops allows for instinctual nature for the chickens with protections from predators. The hens usually lay eggs either on the ground of the coop or in baskets if provided by the farmer. This technique can be complicated if used with roosters though, mostly because of difficulty getting them into the coop and to clean the coop while it is inside. This territorial nature is apparent while outside in which they have a brood of hens and sometimes even informal land claims. This can endanger people unaware of the existence of the territories who are attacked by the larger birds.

[edit] Modern farming

There are basically two types of chicken farms. Those that produce eggs and those that produce chicken for meat. In Egg producing farms, birds are typically housed in rows of cages, called batteries. Environmental conditions are automatically controlled, including light duration, which mimics summer daylength. This stimulates the birds to continue to lay year round. Meat chickens, commonly called broilers, are floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings or rice hulls. They are raised indoors in climate-controlled housing. Depending on circumstances, poultry producers may use FDA-approved medications in feed or drinking water to prevent or treat disease. Some FDA-approved medications are also approved for improved feed utilization. In the US, there are no hormones or steroids used in poultry production. It is against federal law.

[edit] Advantages and disadvantages

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[edit] Free range

[edit] Advantages

Free range poultry production requires that the poultry have access to the outside. In some cases this means the poultry are raised on pasture of enabling the poultry to move around, foraging for their natural diet and living in cleaner conditions than in batteries. In some farms, the manure from free range poultry can be used to benefit crops.^[4]

[edit] Disadvantages

The practical construction of a free range poultry farm can present more problems than the battery alternative. Finding suitable land with adequate drainage to minimise worms and coocidial oocysts, suitable protection from prevailing winds, good ventilation, access and protection from predators can be difficult.^[5] Excess heat, cold or damp can have a harmful effect on the animals and their productivity.^[5] Unlike battery farms, free range farmers have little control over the food their animals come across which can lead to unreliable productivity.^[5]

Free range farming in the UK, which accounts for 26% of production,^[6] has come under similar criticism as battery farming in terms of animal welfare. This is due to the social abnormalities of having large numbers of birds in an outdoor space.^[6] Beak trimming due to cannibalism and infighting is common in this form of poultry farming as well as in batteries. Diseases are common and the animals are vulnerable to predators.^[6] In South-East Asia, a lack of disease control in free range farming has been associated with outbreaks of Avian influenza.^[7]

[edit] Modern farming

[edit] Advantages

In egg producing farms, cages allow for more birds per unit area, and this allows for greater productivity and lower space and food costs, with more efforts put into egg laying.^[6] Modern poultry farming is very efficient and allows meat and eggs to be available to the consumer in all seasons at a much lower cost than free range production. The poultry have no exposure to predators and disease risk is significantly reduced.

[edit] Disadvantages

The cage environment of egg producing does not permit birds to roam. Like free range production, cannibalism is also controlled by beak trimming. Another condition that can occur in prolific egg laying breeds is osteoporosis. During egg production, large amounts of calcium are transferred from bones to create eggshell. Although dietary calcium levels are adequate, absorption of dietary calcium is not always sufficient to fully replenish bone calcium.

[edit] References