A FARMING GUIDE ORGANIC POULTRY By Steve Merritt
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Table of Contents 1. 2.
Poultry and the organic system .................................................................3 Brooding.......................................................................................................3 2.1 Temperature...................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Batch Size & Frequency of batches .................................................................. 4 2.3 Pros and cons of brooding on the range ........................................................... 5 2.31 Advantages.................................................................................................... 5 2.32 Disadvantages............................................................................................... 6 2.5 Types of brooders ............................................................................................. 7 2.51 Electric brooder lamps................................................................................... 7 2.52 Gas brooders................................................................................................. 7 2.6 Building Requirements for brooding areas. ....................................................... 8 2.61 ........................................................................................................................... 8 Building specifications ............................................................................................... 8 2.62 ........................................................................................................................... 8 Area requirements..................................................................................................... 8 2.63 ........................................................................................................................... 8 Light .......................................................................................................................... 8 2.7 Bedding feed and water .................................................................................... 9 2.71 Bedding ......................................................................................................... 9 2.72 Feed .............................................................................................................. 9 2.73 Water ............................................................................................................. 9 2.8 Management of chicks .................................................................................... 10 2.9 Disease management ..................................................................................... 12
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The Growing Bird.......................................................................................13 3.1 Moving out on to the range.............................................................................. 13 3.2 Range Housing................................................................................................ 13 3.3 Disease management ..................................................................................... 15 3.4 Feeding, bedding and water on the range....................................................... 15 3.41 Feeding........................................................................................................ 15 3.42 Bedding ....................................................................................................... 18 3.43 Water........................................................................................................... 18
4 5 6.
Pasture Management.................................................................................18 Predator control.........................................................................................19 Financial Data ............................................................................................20 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4
Overview .............................................................................................................. 20 Gross Margin Table Birds wholesale (Organic) ................................................... 20 Gross Margin Pekin Ducks wholesale (organic) .................................................. 20 Gross Margin Turkeys wholesale......................................................................... 22
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1.
Poultry and the organic system
An organic system is all about the relationship of different enterprises to the whole, and ideally a poultry enterprise needs to be part of a wider organic rotation. It could, for example occupy the last year of an organic ley before cultivation, thus making the most of any fertility left by the birds. If they are fed an organic compound ration, this is effectively a net gain of nutrients in the system and the manure generated goes some way to mitigating the high cost of the feed. If, on the other hand, they are fed from food produced by the farm then the birds contribute to their own food production by increasing fertility for subsequent crops. However, just as with pigs there are criteria that need to be met if the inclusion of organic meat birds is going to be successful in an organic system including: • • •
•
Soil type: The soil needs to be relatively free draining. Heavy, wet land not only makes access difficult it also creates more challenges for the birds Shelter: Poultry need a sheltered environment, so avoid more exposed location should be avoided if possible Labour: By definition, organic poultry production is more labour intensive than conventional systems. The birds are housed in smaller groups, often in mobile housing. Because the houses are often moved around the farm, there may be instances where the birds are at some distance from the farm buildings. Capital: A considerable amount of capital investment is required to establish a successful and efficient organic poultry production unit of any reasonable size. This may, depending on whether there are exiting slaughter facilities available to you, also require setting up a processing unit on farm.
These issues are explored in more detail in the rest of this guide.
2.
Brooding
The brooding period is normally regarded as the first three to four weeks of the chicks life or while it is on heat. Brooding is the crucial period; successful brooding and the rest is easy. Problems during this period often mean problems throughout the life of the batch.
2.1
Temperature
The chick is unable to regulate its own body temperature for the first ten to fifteen days of its life, and is therefore dependent on artificial heat during this period. Temperature fluctuations, by as little as one degree, will very quickly stress chicks. At a day old the body temperature of a chick is approx 39oC (103o F). By five days of age this has risen to 41oC (106o F) where it remains through adult life. Failure to correctly maintain temperature during this early period of will have consequences throughout the bird’s life including higher mortality during the brooding stage, poorer feed conversion and lower finishing weights. Research has demonstrated that chicks subjected to lower temperatures at brooding have impaired immune and digestive systems, leading to a higher incidence of ascites and metabolic disorder. 3
Chicks reared under 27oC (80o F) compared with chicks reared over 32oC (90oF) had a lower finished weight, more rejected birds at slaughtering, a higher mortality rate and a poorer food conversion rate. Too high a temperature can also have adverse effects. However the chicks only seem to be adversely affected if they are subjected to over heating for an extended period of time. They are generally better able to deal with over heating than adult birds. The temperature is gradually reduced (by 1 degree over two days) as the chicks develop, and Table 1 shows the ideal temperature at different ages during the brooding process Age of Chicks (days) 1 2 4 7 14 21
Temperature at chick height (oC) 32-34 32-34 31-33 30-32 25-28 21-23 Table 1: Correct brooding temp at chick height
The aim during the brooding period, as far as temperature is concerned, is to create a comfort zone where the chick has the ideal temperature. There are three basic ways to do this.
2.2
•
Spot brooding: The chicks have a localised source of heat, either electric or gas brooder and access to cooler areas beyond. The chicks can then regulate their own temp to some degree by moving between the cooler and warmer areas.
•
Whole house brooding: As the name suggests the, correct temperature is maintained throughout the whole house and the chicks are not able to move between warmer and cooler areas. This is commonly be used in larger commercial situations.
•
Partial house brooding: This is similar to whole house except that there is a localised heat source and the birds have a restricted area, that is enlarged as they get bigger.
Batch Size & Frequency of batches
The number of poultry you rear per year will be determined by: • • • • •
The size of your holding. The amount of suitable land within the holding. The existing nitrogen levels produced by any other enterprises. The proposed sales outlet for the finished birds. The provision for slaughtering and processing.
The batch size you choose will be influenced by:
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• • •
Your organic sector body standards Your level of output The frequency of delivery of day old chicks
Larger units may have day old chicks delivered weekly or fortnightly while smaller units may only get them in once a month. So if, for instance, you intend to kill 100 per week and are getting them in every two weeks group, your group size will be 200. If you are getting them in once a month group size will be 400. There are two main factors you need to consider when deciding on the frequency of deliveries:
2.3
•
Variation in finished birds: If you are getting chicks in once a month there the last birds in the batch to be slaughtered will be 4 weeks older than the first birds, and this will mean large variation with in the batch. This may not be an issue if you are selling direct and can be a positive advantage if you are onward processing; (bigger birds are much better for cutting up etc). However, if you are selling into the trade, can be a big problem, since trade customers normally require a consistent product, normally 2 to 2.2kg (although sometimes smaller). Under these circumstances more frequent batches will be necessary. You can also buy “as hatched” chicks, which are not sexed and therefore roughly 50% male and 50% female. If they are delivered once a fortnight, most of the finished males would go in the first week and females in the second, giving a more consistent finished weight.
•
Economies of scale: There is also an economic advantage purchasing larger numbers. There is normally a lower cost per chick to larger numbers and if there is also a delivery charge this is spread over a greater number of chicks. Also, since a brooder has to set up for each batch, there is also a saving in labour involved in less frequent deliveries.
Pros and cons of brooding on the range
Once batch size is decided then location of brooding area needs to be considered. Brooding out on the range means that the chicks are brooded in the same housing that they will finish in. This has advantages and disadvantages.
2.31
Advantages
The main advantage is that that they don’t have to be moved from an indoor brooder to their finishing house. There are a number of benefits associated with this: • The birds are less stressed; The move is very stressful for the birds, particularly in the winter when they have to cope with big temperature changes. This in turn can lead can lead to disease problems, especially coccidiosis at the adolescent stage (see section 2.9). •
The amount of labour is reduced, both in terms of the move itself and the associated disinfection process.
•
In the summer months, when favourable temperatures often mean shorter brooding times, chicks can be let out on the range earlier. This is easy if they are already in their finishing house, but more difficult if you have to first move them out of the indoor brooding area.
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These issues are discussed in more detail in section 3.2
2.32
Disadvantages
The disadvantages are mainly associated with increased housing requirements and the need to modify existing housing to become suitable for brooding. Specific issues include: •
Housing modifications: The houses must be free from drafts and well insulated. It maybe necessary to have a floor in the housing to stop moisture coming up in wet times. For older birds, the lack of a floor, may not be crucial; if the bedding becomes wet more bedding can be enough. However for chicks, becoming wet is a killer. However, even with a floor, it is much more difficult to create ideal conditions for brooding on the range than indoors, particularly with regard to temperature, and the implications of this are discussed in Section 2.1.
An example of an insulated range building suitable for brooding
•
Increased housing requirements. As well as improved housing brooding on range requires 30% more housing, and therefore more field area than if you were brooding indoors. If you are buying in 100 chicks per month you will have three batches on the farm at any one time; One batch being brooded for three to four weeks, One batch on the range growing and a third on the range being drawn from for slaughter.
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If brooding indoors then you would require two range houses each housing 100 birds expand. If brooding on the range at least 3 range houses would be required. It should also be remembered that if outside on the range then everything (gas. bedding food etc) has to be taken to the birds. This may not be a problem in the summer months but in the wetter winter months traffic to and from the site may damage the land. Monitoring: Close attention is absolutely essential during the brooding stage, and day old chicks need to be checked four or five times a day. This is much more difficult on the range, particularly if the rotation means that the brooders are at a fair distance from the farm. Checking easily becomes less frequent and problems become disasters.
2.5
Types of brooders
Brooders come in a variety types and sizes depending on chick numbers.
2.51
Electric brooder lamps
Generally electric brooder lamps are only suitable for smaller numbers of birds (up to 100 per lamp if an infra red bulb is used, not more than 50 otherwise). They are expensive to run and require replacement bulbs that are expensive.
2.52
Gas brooders
Gas brooders are generally more reliable and cheaper to run. They can be purchased to suit various bird numbers. In a small to medium scale set up the spot brooding and partial house brooding will tend to be the most cost effective. Spot brooding can be effective when brooding indoors whereas the partial house brooding suits on the range brooding.
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A gas brooder suitable for up to 500 chicks
2.6
Building Requirements for brooding areas.
2.61
Building specifications
The key requirements for brooding areas are that they should be draft free, well ventilated and well insulated and easy clean and disinfect. Older stone buildings can be adapted quite well, as the thick walls can retain heat and avoid rapid fluctuations of temperature, and tend to be cooler in the summer, but you need to ensure that it can cleaned right up to the ceiling. Every effort should be made to ensure that there are no drafts at floor level, by ensuring that there are no holes in the building (this can also prevent problems with rats, which not only spread disease and consume very expensive starter feed, but also kill and stress chicks). In addition, when the amount of cold air entering the building is greater than the warm air leaving it (e.g. when it forced by the wind), the cold air then settles at floor level, chilling the birds and in effect creating drafts. Wind direction should therefore be taken into consideration when choosing your brooding area.. Ventilation is the movement of air at ceiling level, and is essential to the health and being of the chicks. The trick is to get good ventilation without creating drafts, and therefore ventilation flaps should be well above the level of the birds and should be controllable. In practice this need only be adjustable flaps but some means of reducing or increasing ventilation will be necessary to take into account the summer and winter variation in temperature and changes in wind direction. Good ventilation also has a crucial role to play in reducing humidity which has important implications for health of the chicks. High humidity speeds up the microbiological breakdown of faecal matter, leading to higher ammonia levels. High ammonia levels in turn, increase disease susceptibility, especially respiratory problems. The production of ammonia can be reduced by lower humidity, which in turn is controlled by suitable ventilation.
2.62
Area requirements
To prevent the build up of disease you need to have twice the number of brooding areas that you expect to use at any one time. This allows one area to be cleaned, washed and disinfected or steam-cleaned and rested while the other area is in use. The area needs to be large enough to house each batch for up to four or five weeks of age. At a day old the area required would be around 30 chicks per m2, but by five weeks this would be reduced to 10 chicks per m2. On the range, the house needs to be large enough to accommodate the finished birds. In this situation it would need to be sub divided for the initial period and a smaller area created to brood within the house; a type of partial house spot brooding.
2.63
Light
Light is also a factor that needs to be considered. For the first seven too ten days the chicks need to identify food and water sources, and they are better able to do this with bright lighting during this period. Sector body standards limit the total amount of light (max 16 hours per day), whereas conventional producers will often have 24 hour lighting
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during this period. Obviously there are limits to lighting if the chicks are brooded on the range, although solar powered or battery lighting can be used.
2.7
Bedding feed and water
2.71
Bedding
Dust-free softwood shavings are the ideal bedding, and initially should be about 10cm (4 inches) thick. This material warms up well and provides a soft layer for the chicks, but it is expensive and a thick layer of chopped straw can be used as an alternative. You could also consider using shavings when the chicks are very young and more venerable, and switch to straw as they develop. As discussed in section 2.6, keeping the humidity down in very important, so always use plenty of bedding and have fresh dry material to hand to deal with water spills etc.
2.72
Feed
Chicks, up to the age of four weeks, require a higher protein feed (ranging from 22% up to 27%) than the growing birds. This means that the organic starter rations will be more expensive. As the chicks will waste this extra protein above three to four weeks of age you should plan on feeding no more than 1kg of the starter per chick. The feed can be provided either as a pellet or a mash. While research has shown that birds better utilise pellets, the difference is marginal and certainly if you have the ability to mill your own feed the cost benefits of doing so far out way the improvements in growth rates that you might expect from using a pellet. If you are using pellets, they need to be in the form of micropellets, and most proprietary starter rations are in this form. There are a number of organic standards relating to feed that you must adhere to, and feeds should come from a mill registered with one of the organic sector bodies. This means that the choice available to you may be limited, but it is normally possible for your local farmer coop to source a suitable ration. You should move form the starter to the grower or finishing rations slowly, and if you are brooding indoors you should switch the diets before they are moved on the range so as not to exacerbate the stress caused by the move (see section 2.31).
2.73
Water
At a week old, chicks will require 2 litres per 100 chicks, increasing to 18 litres per 100 birds at 12 weeks of age. The amount of water consumed is directly related to feed consumption and temperature, and will increase by up to 50% in hot weather. It is therefore important that adequate clean water available all the time if the birds are to achieve the efficient growth rates. There are a number of different water systems available, however nipple systems are probably the most reliable in terms of supplying clean water without the risk of contamination. As a rough guide should provide one nipple for every 10 birds. Open water systems can be used, but they carry the risk of spreading disease if they are not kept clean. There is also a risk the chicks will become soaked, which, especially during the first week, can rapidly lead to chilling and increase humidity levels. If you are using open watering systems, you need to initially have small bowls to stop this happening. You can change over gradually (to allow the chicks to find the new water source) at 10 days or so.
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A nipple drinker. Note height above ducks, the birds should be reaching for it.
During the summer months heat stress can be a real problem. This occurs when the chick or mature bird cannot maintain the balance between heat production and heat loss. Signs of heat stress are rapid panting, (slow panting is normal behaviour), which results in loss of water from the lungs. This needs to be replenished to avoid dehydration, preferably with cool water which helps to increase intake and has a cooling effect.
2.8
Management of chicks
Warm up the brooder area just before a delivery so that the litter under the heat source is warm and dry when the chicks arrive. To make it as easy as possible for them to locate food and drink quickly, dispensers should surround the heat source without being under it. If using nipple drinkers make sure that they are not too high. In normal conditions the birds should be reaching for the nipple but the for the first few days it is more important that they find the nipples. You can help the chicks find food and water by covering a third of the brooder area with newspaper and placing the feeders on top of it. Then spread the food on top of the newspapers and over fill the feeders (See figure 1)
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Figure 1: Brooder area ready for the arrival of chicks. The blue area represents the newspaper, black the nipple drinkers, red the heat source and yellow the feeders
It is essential to reduce floor drafts, especially in cold weather. Circular draft guard, which can be as simple as piece of cardboard up to a height of about 30 -35 cm (12 -15 inches) around the heat source, drinkers and feeders can help achieve this. This will also help to keep heat within a confined area while reducing the possibility of crowding and suffocation in corners. As the chicks grow the guards can be extended. The most reliable indicator of the conditions is the behaviour of the chicks. Even distribution and active chicks are what you are looking for. Birds clustered around the heat source and chirping sharply are too cold, whereas if the chicks are around the edge of the brooder area and appear drowsy and panting they are too hot. If they are all on one side of the brooder there is probably a draft.
Chicks fairly evenly distributed.
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2.9
Disease management
There are a number of diseases that can affect the chick, but Coccidiosis is potentially the most serious. It is ubiquitous parasitic organism that multiples in the gut and is passed through the faeces onto the litter, One of main signs of infection is blood in the faeces. The chicks, scratching through the litter looking for food pick up the parasite and become infected, but it can also be transferred through the water. If the disease is present at low levels, the birds will build up an immunity and it only becomes a problem when it reach a critical level at which point it explodes. Coccidiostats (in feed medication) are not permitted under the standards, so in an organic system, the control of this problem is down to management. Chicks are become particularly susceptible when they are under any form of stress, minimising stress is an important part of the strategy. For instance: •
Make sure that the bedding is always clean and friable. This minimises the risk of picking up coccidiosis from the litter. Wet bedding means that the birds become caked and ingest the pathogen while preening. Dirty bedding will lead to higher ammonia levels making the chicks more susceptible.
•
Avoiding overcrowding, which encourages the spread of disease from bird to bird
•
Ensure that the chicks have good access to clean water and sufficient food at all times. If they don’t, they will also spend more time scratching through the bedding looking for food, which aids the spread of the disease
•
Birds are particularly susceptible when they beginning to feather up (at around three weeks), so be extra vigilant at this time.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of managing the disease at this stage, and problems during this period will lead not only to higher mortality but less efficient birds throughout their life. Generally speaking, once the birds are out on the range the risk reduces, provided you take care to ensure they don’t take the problem with them when they leave the brooding. This is mainly because they spend more time on the pasture where the density of birds is much less, although during very wet spells when the birds spend more time indoors, it can raise its head again.
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3
The Growing Bird
Organic standards require that the meat bird spends at least two thirds of its life on the range. Assuming an age to slaughter of 12 weeks then the bird has to be on the range after the fourth week. It is possible, if organic chicks are used (necessary with SA standards), that birds can be slaughtered before this date. This will reduce the time kept in. Other than the warm summer months 12 weeks is a realistic age to finish at around 2kg.
3.1
Moving out on to the range
As discussed in section 2.3 the move from the brooding area out on to the range is very stressful for the birds and care should be taken minimise this stress as far as possible. In particular: • Prepare the range building beforehand making sure that bedding feed and water are all supplied. Collect the birds and move them as quickly as possible and try to minimise the change in temperature as far as possible, particularly during the winter months. Ventilation should be reduced initially to allow a quick build up of warmth. •
As discussed in section 2.8 make sure that the change in ration, from starter to grower, is completed well before the move and provide plenty of feed. Running out of food can stress meat birds, although allowing the brooder area to run out of food a few hours before moving can be beneficial, (the birds, being
•
Don’t change watering systems; if you intend using a nipple drinking system at the growing stage use it also at the brooder stage.
Moving birds will probably set them back for up to 7 to 10 days in the winter months and 3 – 5 days in the summer and this is a major drawback of indoor brooding in the winter. To some extent this can be offset by the use of lights on the range. You will need to monitor the birds very closely after moving. Bear in mind that they are likely to be feathering up fast, and as noted in section 2.9, they are particularly susceptible to disease pressures.
3.2
Range Housing
To some degree the organic standards dictate the design of range housing, in that they specify the number of birds per m2, the feeder area required, and the pop hole size, and it is important that . However standards do vary between certification bodies so make absolutely certain that you understand the requirements of your chosen sector body before you begin purchasing equipment and housing. It is possible to rear organic meat birds in static buildings, although many people that it limits production, as you would not be allowed to continually use the same land, and it the system would not benefit form the many of the advantages of full integration of the poultry enterprise into the organic system as discussed in Section 1. There are a number of companies that build suitable housing at various sizes to suit individual requirements, but it is also possible to build your own range housing. If you are
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building your own, be very careful to reduce drafts as much as possible and insure that ventilation inlets are well above the birds - Remember that after three months of bedding the birds will be substantially higher off the ground than at eth beginning of the growing period. The cost of housing will be around £350 - £400 per 100 birds in materials alone for uninsulated housing and around £550 insulated. If you intend to brood on the range insulation is essential (see section 2.6 for details). If you not intending to brood on the range it is possible use un-insulated houses, but there a number of drawbacks which mean that insulted houses are generally well worth the extra investment. These problems include: • Heat stress: In the summer heat stress is the main issues, and thinly clad roofing, especially tin, means that buildings warm at an incredible rate. •
Condensation: In the autumn and spring, when there are warm days and cold nights, the change in temperature creates condensation. The bedding gets damp and very soon respiratory problems occur.
•
In the winter it is difficult to maintain heat. This is a particular problem for birds that have been brooded inside and are then moved out into cold range buildings.
An example of uninsulated range housing
It is possible to buy and/or build housing with floors in, which have the obvious advantage of providing extra insulation. In the winter months this prevents the bedding being soaked with ground water (although inevitably at some point the drinking system will soak the bedding!). However, the down side is that you will have to muck them out the building between batches by hand, a time consuming and therefore expensive task.
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With floorless housing, in contrast, you can drag the house off the muck and get at it with machinery. Some of the problems of ground water can be dealt with by laying plastic sheeting down before bedding and by positioning the housing carefully in the winter months, ensuring that it is on drier land. If you are brooding on the range, more bedding will also help. Bear in mind you will need to rest the houses for at least 2 weeks between batches (see section 3.3) and this has implications for the total number of mobile buildings that you will need.
3.3
Disease management
Disease management on the range is largely down to bio-security, and preventing the transfer of disease from one batch to another extremely important. The houses must be rested for at least two weeks after they have been mucked and before the next batch is introduced. This will kill off many disease causing micro-organisms that have a limited survival time off the bird. You should also disinfect the houses at least twice a year or after a particular problem (Soil Association standards insist on disinfection after each batch). It is crucial that you keep batches separate from others of different ages or species. This can be done by having them on a distant parts of the farm or if this if this is not possible using permanent or temporary fencing. If you are producing more than one species (e.g. ducks and chickens) minimise the possibilities for transfer of disease between the two. For instance, do all the chickens and then move to the ducks, and do not move continuously between the two species. Always work from the youngest of a species to the oldest batch and then between the different species. Keep your stocking rate as low as you can, and this will reduce the pressure on the birds. This is particularly important in winter, especially during wet periods, when the birds spend more time in doors. Problems are therefore more likely to arise and when they do, spread faster. Wild birds, such as starlings, crows and rooks can potentially introduce disease problems. Crows in particular, are full of micro plasma.
3.4
Feeding, bedding and water on the range
3.41
Feeding
A batch of 100 birds will eat up to 1000kg of feed during its time on the range (this will vary depending on time of year. In the summer, warmer months this will be less), or 1020 kg/ day. If you are aiming at killing 100 chickens per week you will therefore need to take out up to150kg feed per day, or 1 tonne per week. With these quantities is mind you will probably need to invest in food storage and dispensing facilities. This will also allow you to reduce the cost by buying in bulk. On this scale a 12 ton bulk bin should be more than adequate for storage. A range of mechanical feeders are available, which can be loaded directly from the bulk bin or by conveyors and taken out on to the range. The feed can then be dispensed directly to the birds, or it can be bagged up and moved to where it is needed. Large feeders, capable of taking up to 125kg are available. The outdoor versions usually have a top hat type of
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lid, protecting the food and the birds feeding from the elements, while helping to reduce losses to wild birds, which can be considerable especially in winter. The advantage of such a system is that it persuades birds out of their house onto the range, although at present this is also not advised by DEFRA due to the threat of Avian Flu. The likely investment in appropriate equipment will is detailed in Table 2 below: Item Approximate cost Bulk Bin (12tonne capacity) £3000 Mechanically dispensing 1 tonne trailer £4000 125kg feeders 1 per 100 birds £200 Total £7200 Table 2: Approximate cost of feed storage and dispensing facilities
A trailed feed hopper capable of blowing feed or dispensing into bags
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A 12ton bulk bin dispensing into trailed hopper
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3.42
Bedding
Don’t scrimp on bedding. Use plenty of it and keep it and keep it fresh. The total amount used will vary from one batch to another and according to season; in the wet winter months the birds are in the house longer and will need more. Straw is the most cost effective material at this stage, although shavings from untreated wood are also permitted. The bedding should be regularly topped up and kept in a dry friable condition. Ducks require a lot more bedding than chickens, even at a much reduced stocking rate. It is well worth investing in a straw chopper, which not only produces a much better utilised bedding, it also saves on the total amount of straw used and makes the muck easier to handle when cleaning out.
3.43
Water
As mentioned in section 3.1, you should try to use the same drinking system on the range as used in the brooding area. Water should be available in the house and preferably on the range as well. Nipple systems are by far the safest system to employ, in terms of reducing the potential for water borne diseases to spread. It will also mean that wild birds are less likely to use it and introduce disease in the flock. Whichever water system you use, it is likely that gravity fed rather than mains pressure will be required, and you can use a mobile break tank to achieve this.
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Pasture Management
From 4 weeks of age onwards (i.e. two thirds of life), the organic standards require that poultry have access to managed, well covered, suitable vegetation. This pasture has to be rested from poultry for specified periods depending on sector body, and the maximum stocking rate should not exceed 2500 birds/ ha. Poultry will graze grass, as long as it does not get too long, and sheep can be beneficial in reducing sward length. Birds will also be encouraged to graze more if suitable shelters are scattered over the range. These should ideally be made from natural materials, such as branches and twigs although a wigwam of pallets or an old trailer, appear to work as well. Ideally cover crops, such as maize can be used although this is not always possible when they occupy the last year of a grass/clover ley. In the summer months it is perfectly possible to let the birds out well before four weeks. From a week onwards, and in warm dry weather chicks, will happily graze. ADAS research has demonstrated that birds that have access to the range earlier will graze more. If early access to the range is not possible to can simulate this effect by introducing cut grass to the brooder area from day one. As discussed in 3.3, the position of poultry housing in the winter months can be crucial, and care should be taken to avoid the wetter areas. Ducks in particular can make a mess around the pop holes, and taking equipment into such an area for feeding and cleaning will cause extensive damage to the soil structure. Obviously such conditions, especially with the warmer winters that we appear to be having, increase the challenges and stress to the birds, and this could lead to more health problems as well as making life more difficult for the producer. If the farm is wet it may be worth considering poultry production only in the drier months.
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5
Predator control
Losses through predator can be quite considerable. Foxes are the main predators, but feral cats, badgers, crows and birds of prey will cost any poultry producer, but there are various ways of minimising such losses. It is possible to erect electric fencing around the whole area, although this is expensive and requires a high level of maintenance. At least 9 strands will be required set at 5-10cm at the bottom with an increasing distance between them up to the top wire. Because of the inevitable earthing as vegetation grows, it is essential that a large charger is employed that has the capacity to burn off vegetation. It is also needs to deliver a large enough belt to deter foxes if it is to be effective; a smaller charger will be constantly challenged by the foxes, whereas, a large hit usually deters them. You can also use poultry netting around each batch, although this is less effective. It is not possible to use the larger chargers on poultry netting as the wire rope only has small diameter wire running through it. The larger chargers burn these through very quickly. The most cost effective method, is controlling the fox numbers, especially during the winter months before cubbing. If you can reduce the number of vixens in the area you will reduce the number of cubs in the following summer months looking for an easy meal. Various methods can be used including shooting (a centre fire rifle is preferable) snaring (with free running snares only, which must be checked every day. Self locking snare are illegal) and baited cage traps (spring traps are illegal). Many consider shooting to be the best option. Traps are less effective than the other methods. Snaring is also controversial, because if it is not done properly, or checked daily it becomes extremely painful and unpleasant, and they also catch non target species. Birds of prey and crows tend to hit the smaller birds. To minimise this restrict the area that the chicks have access to when first let out. The crows and birds of prey don’t appear to like attacking chicks within a fenced area, and you can also string fishing line over the fenced area which is also effective at deterring attacking birds.
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6.
Financial Data
6.1
Overview
Mortality 12%
6.2 Gross Margin Table Birds wholesale (Organic)
Output Deadweight 2.1kg minus 10% mortality Less Cost of Chick @ 85p/chick
Kg 12
£ 2.1
£4.90
£9.26 £0.85 £8.41
Total Output Feed 1kg starter/bird Feed 8kg finisher/bird Heat/bird Straw & sawdust/bird Slaughtering and dressing costs, @ 200p/bird Labels trays, bags Packaging cardboard/polybox Miscellanous @ 5p perbird Vet & Med
0.001 0.009
£470.00 £420.00
£0.47 £3.72 £0.15 £0.06 £2.00 £0.10 £0.00 £0.05 £0.04
Total Variable Costs
£6.59
Gross Margin per Bird
£1.82
Physical assumptions Birds sold at 80 days Mortality 10% Feed has recently gone up dramatically
6.3 Gross Margin Pekin Ducks wholesale (organic)
20
Output 2.5kg bird @ £5.40/kg less 10% Less chick price@ £1.50
£12.15 £1.50 10.65
Total Output Feed 1kg starter/bird @ £470/tonne Feed 10kg finisher/bird @ £420/tonne Heat/bird Straw & sawdust/bird Slaughtering and dressing costs Labels, trays, bags Miscellanous @ 40p perbird
£0.47 £4.20 £0.15 £0.15 £3.50 £0.10 £0.40
Total Variable Costs
8.97
Gross Margin per Carcass
1.68
Assumptions 10% mortality Feed has recently gone up dramatically
21
6.4 Gross Margin Turkeys wholesale
Output 5kg bird @ £7.50/kg minus 10% Less chick price@ £3.75
£7.50 33.75 3.75 30.00
Total Output Feed 3kg starter/bird @ £470/tonne Feed 9kg finisher/bird @ £420/tonne Feed 5kg grain/bird @ £220/tonne Heat/bird Straw & sawdust/bird Dep on feeders/drinkers Slaughtering and dressing costs, Miscellanous @ 50p perbird Transport/markets/packaging
1.41 3.78 1.10 1.00 0.50 0.04 5.00 0.50 0.30
Total Variable Costs
13.63
Gross Margin per Turkey
16.37
Assumptions Feed has recently gone up dramatically
22