Abstract
This review paper deals with the major health and welfare aspects of organic poultry production. The differences between organic and conventional egg and poultry meat production are discussed, with the main emphasis on housing and management requirements, feed composition and the use of veterinary prophylactic and therapeutic drugs. The effects of the legislation and statutes for organic farming on the health and welfare of the birds are also discussed, especially in relation to the biosecurity problems associated with free-range systems, the occurrence of behavioural disturbances in loose housed flocks and the use of veterinary drugs and vaccinations in general. The results from a questionnaire sent out to all Swedish organic egg producers, where questions about the farmer's perception of the birds' health status were included, are presented at the end of the paper. It is concluded that most of the health and welfare problems seen in conventional poultry systems for loose housed or free ranging birds can also been found on organic poultry farms. It is also concluded that there is a need for information about biosecurity, disease detection and disease prevention on organic poultry farms.
Highlights
Whereas early organic farming was mainly focused on crop production, organic animal production has become an increasingly important sector during the last decade
The statutes for organic animal husbandry are based on the same principles as organic plant production, i.e. sustainable resource utilisation without adding synthetic substances such as chemical fertilisers and herbicides
In spite of the growing popularity of organic animal husbandry, which is partly a result of environmental awareness among farmers and partly related to increasing consumer demand for organic products, there are only a limited number of scientific publications related to animal health and welfare in such systems
Summary
This review paper deals with the major health and welfare aspects of organic poultry production. The differences between organic and conventional egg and poultry meat production are discussed, with the main emphasis on housing and management requirements, feed composition and the use of veterinary prophylactic and therapeutic drugs. The effects of the legislation and statutes for organic farming on the health and welfare of the birds are discussed, especially in relation to the biosecurity problems associated with free-range systems, the occurrence of behavioural disturbances in loose housed flocks and the use of veterinary drugs and vaccinations in general. It is concluded that most of the health and welfare problems seen in conventional poultry systems for loose housed or free ranging birds can been found on organic poultry farms.
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