Starting a Chicken Farm the Organic Way – Guidelines for Raising Organic Chickens In Your Backyard
The concept of an organic chicken is still in the gray areas even now as the certain conditions that are required for organically starting a chicken farm could be varied and sometimes conflicting from one farm to another. So what really is the meaning of “organic” in the whole context of organic chicken farming? A very safe and established definition for an organic chicken would be a chicken freely raised in a cage-free environment, wholly dependent of natural and chemical-free organic feeds all their lives. They are free, and lead stress-free lives by roaming around much of the day, eating insects and worms. The underlying philosophy behind this is to provide a healthy alternative for that run-of-the mill and bland supermarket chicken, packed with synthetic stuffs.
If you consider starting a chicken farm whether on your backyard or on a grander scale, you should look into the prospect of starting an organic chicken farm. Consumers are steadily leaning towards acquiring a taste for the healthier alternatives and the demand for organic chicken is in the upswing because of this. You could be in the forefront of an exciting wave of in-demand consumer products about to sweep the market in the near future. Here are some guidelines for raising organic chicken in your own backyard:
Start organically
Bear in mind that you must be organic all the way in starting a chicken farm from start to finish. You must procure chicks and eggs for hatching from purely organic chicken sources. You should also follow strict organic practices from the day the chicks were hatched, to the process of egg laying and production, to the death chambers where chickens are killed in the most humane way as possible, fast and clean.
Healthy and clean living
In starting a chicken farm organically, the chicken should approximate the natural living conditions of a free roaming animal as much as possible. Chickens should be free to enjoy healthy lives, with plenty of exercise outdoors, freely accessing natural amenities such as sunshine and shade, fresh air, eating bugs and worms and continuous supply of fresh clean water. Confinement in holding places should be minimal as you would be obliged to seek guidance from a certifying agency regarding the time allotment for confining organic chicken. Any type of medication and antibiotics is definitely not allowed. However, if the chicken does get sick, you are required to have it treated with medicine. You just don’t have to sell it as an organic chicken anymore as a consequence.