Poultry farming

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Poultry farming is the practice of raising poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks geese, as a subcategory of animal husbandry, for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. The vast majority of poultry are farmed using factory 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, and friction between these two main methods has led to long term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of factory farming argue that it harms the environment and creates health risks, as well as abusing the animals themselves.^[2][3][4] In 2002, the United Kingdom also investigated the state of its own poultry farming methods with aims to investigate "animal welfare standards."^[5] The Vegetarian Economy and Green Agriculture (VEGA) research group also states that factory farming of poultry in South-East Asia is a key cause of Avian influenza.^[6] However the same has also been said of free-range farming.^[7]

In return, proponents of factory farming highlight its increased productivity, stating that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art confinement facilities and are happy,^[8] that it is needed to feed the growing global human population, and that it protects the environment.^[9]

Contents 1 Techniques 1.1 Free range 1.1.1 Yarding 1.2 Factory farming 2 Advantages and disadvantages 2.1 Free range 2.1.1 Advantages 2.1.2 Disadvantages 2.2 Factory farming 2.2.1 Advantages 2.2.2 Disadvantages 3 References

[edit] Techniques

[edit] Free range

Main article: Free range

Free range poultry farming consists of poultry permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. The principle is to allow the animals as much freedom as possible, to live out their instinctual behaviors in a reasonably natural way, regardless of whether or not they are eventually killed for meat. 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".^[10]

[edit] Yarding

Main article: Yarding

While often confused with free range farming, yarding is actually a separate method by which a hutch and fenced off area outside are combined when farming poultry. 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. This is common technique used by small farms in the Northeastern portion of the US. Daily releases out of hutches or coops allows for instinctuial 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] Factory farming

In factory (also known as battery) poultry farming, particularly for eggs, birds are kept in rows of cages, and their environment, ventilation, heating and lighting are dictated automatically.^[11] Extra lighting can be added beyond normal daylight hours to facilitate more egg production, and extra hormones and growth stimulants are added to the feed to encourage egg production or weight gain depending on whether the birds are being farmed for eggs or meat.^[6]

[edit] Advantages and disadvantages

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[edit] Free range

[edit] Advantages

Free range poultry farming has the advantage of enabling the poultry to move around, foraging for their natural diet and living in cleaner conditions than in battery farming. In some farms, the manure from free range poultry can be used to benefit crops.^[12]

[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.^[13] Excess heat, cold or damp can have a harmful effect on the animals and their productivity.^[13] Unlike battery farms, free range farmers have little control over the food their animals come across which can lead to unreliable productivity.^[13]

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] Factory farming

[edit] Advantages

The small cages restrict movement, and 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] Battery farming is quicker, more economical and practical, and growth and output can be specifically controlled. The poultry are at less risk from predators and outdoor elements such as cold, heat, wind or damp, all of which can have significant impact on yield and health of the animals.^[13]

[edit] Disadvantages

The small environments reduce stimulation of the poultry, which often results in pecking each other or themselves whereas in the outdoors they would have other stimulation.^[6] A study by the Agricultural and Food Research Council in 1992 also found that 50% of battery farmed poultry had bone disorders such as osteoporosis^[11] or breakages.^[14] Battery farms are also at greater risk of fire, due to the amount of electrical equipment and the likelihood of rodents chewing through the wiring.^[13]

Battery farming is also the subject of much criticism and the products are often less popular than free-range alternatives,^[15][16] and the mislabling of one as the other has led to outrage in some consumer groups.^[17] The use of gas to kill the birds^[11] prior to harvesting was also criticized by Dr. Mohan Raj of United Poultry Concern who stated that current use of carbon dioxide fails to cleanly kill the birds, causing a "a painfully slow death of suffocation"^[6] VEGA states that "millions" of male chicks are killed in this way as they do not produce eggs. Debeaking is also heavily criticised due to the psychological effects and pain involved.^[11] the act of forced staravtion to reduce periods of off-lay are also unpopular.^[11]

Health concerns are not limited to the animals in battery farming, however. The US Department of Health released a list of risks to humans working in poultry battery farms and those living nearby, which included respiratory illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries, infections, odors and flies and chemical and infectious compounds in the soil which included the mixtures of antibodies, pathogens, nutrients, pesticides, hormones and other chemicals that are found in or are administered to battery poultry. Trace elements of copper or arsenic were also found.^[3]

Outbreaks of Avian influenza have also been blamed on battery farming in South-East Asia.^[18] Battery farming is prohibited in a number of countries, including Switzerland and Sweden, with movements in favour of banning active in the United Kingdom, Australia and Denmark.^[11]

[edit] References