Chicken coops plans

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Organic egg production is the production of eggs through organic means. In this process, the poultry are fed organic feed. The poultry must have access to the outdoors and are in a cage-free environment. Organic egg producers cannot use antibiotics except during an infectious outbreak. Only natural molting can occur within the flock; forced molting is not allowed. Organic certification also means maintaining of basic animal welfare standards.

• 1 Differences between “Free Range” and “Organic”
• 2 Organic feed
• 3 Living conditions
• 4 Antibiotics
• 5 Molting
• 6 Animal welfare
• 7 See also
• 8 References

Significant differences cover feed, medication, and animal welfare. Organic hens are fed organic feed; it is prohibited to feed animal byproducts or GMO crops – which is not discontinued in free range environments; no antibiotics allowed except in emergencies (in opposite to free range, which implies usually the same levels of antibiotics as factory farming); guaranteed animal welfare standards in organic farms, which also improves the quality of both the eggs and the meat – low stress levels lead to superior quality of animal products, a fact long known and used in the production of the famous Wagyu beef[citation needed].

Organic feed is grown by certified organic farmers. To become a certified organic farmer, the crop must be free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The crop must be free of GMOs and synthetic fertilization for three years before it can be certified for organic usage. If the crop is contaminated by cross-fertilization, the crop is rendered useless for organic grading. Finally, there can be no animal by-products fed to the poultry.

In organic egg production, the flock must live cage-free with access to the outdoors. However, this is dependent on climate and possibility of adverse weather conditions, many states are not required to maintain access to the outdoors throughout the entire duration of the year. The birds are raised to live free-roaming throughout the barn, and are generally raised on cement flooring rather than shavings or bedding. The number of birds that live in a barn is calculated using the amount of square footage in the barn and the square footage birds need. In an organic operation, nesting boxes are placed above a belted system. This allows for the free roaming birds to lay their eggs on the belts instead of on the ground. The belted system then collects the eggs so that farmers don’t have to on a regular basis, which could upset the birds and affect egg production levels. The birds must be trained to lay eggs in the nesting boxes, which is achieved by restricting all access to the outdoors for a time prior to the birds coming into production and through light manipulation. The birds must also be allowed to have access to the outdoors “if they so choose”. This means that there are small doors placed throughout the barn. Periodically, the doors open up to a paddock enclosed by nets, which are used to keep predators such as birds of prey and raccoons from getting into the paddock, reaching the birds, and killing them.

Organic egg producers cannot feed low-level antibiotics to the poultry. Antibiotics are only allowed during an outbreak of infection or disease.[citation needed]

Organic egg producers do not induce a molt within their flock. Molting is considered harsh treatment of the poultry within certain communities.[citation needed] The birds are allowed to go into a natural molt but are not induced to make a profit.[citation needed]

Similar to all other forms of egg production in the United States, organic production is also regulated by a strict animal welfare audit system. Mistreatment of the chickens could potentially lead a farmer to losing his organic certification. Thus some of the arguments from animal activist organizations that egg production is cruel and inhumane do not necessarily apply to organic raised hens. On the other hand, male chicks who are born on organic or free-range egg farms are still discarded, by the use of lethal gas, because they do not produce eggs.[1][2].

• Organic certification
• Free range eggs
• Free range
• Pastured poultry

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (September 2008)

1. ^ http://www.goveg.com/organic_eggs.asp
2. ^ http://fowlplaymovie.com/

• http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/LDP/2006/12Dec/LDPM15001/ldpm15001.pdf
• http://www.mda.state.mn.us/esap/organic/
• http://www.ovobio.com