Organic poultry production systems vary greatly across Europe. They are usually either free-range systems, with mobile houses, where animals are free to move from inside to pasture, or systems with a fixed house and controlled access to a grazing area. Respecting animal behaviour and welfare is very important to reduce stress and diseases, and to preserve animal health.

Organic poultry producers can obtain poultry feed in different ways. Still, they must respect the European regulation for organic production, which requires that feed be produced on-farm or in the same region. Some farms purchase complete compound feeds or buy a protein concentrate from a local feed manufacturer to mix with cereals grown on their farm; others use feed grown on-farm because they grow cereals and some protein sources themselves. Increasing use of regionally grown resources is essential to avoid the import of organic protein feed from non-European countries and to strengthen the sustainability of organic poultry production in Europe. The supply of protein and essential amino acids will be a great challenge for organic egg producers when the transition to 100% organic feed ingredients becomes a reality.

In organic broiler production, one of the big challenges for the farmers is to produce meat with slow-growing breeds at a reasonable cost. Broilers must remain on the farm for a minimum of 81 days before reaching the slaughter age. It is crucial to find the right compromise between genetic type and feeding intensity, to respect the demand for energy, protein and amino acids at each stage of production. Broilers need to have access to a free-range area of at least 4 m² per animal, and a minimum in-house area for 10 animals with a maximum of 21 kg/m².

Organic egg production is increasing in Europe, where the highest market shares of organic eggs are seen in Scandinavia, Austria and Switzerland. In order to produce organic eggs, hens must have access to outdoor pasture with either good quality grass/herbs or supplemental forage material such as fresh hay, silage or vegetables that is fed to egg layers daily. Requirements for outdoor areas, as well as practices regarding access to foraging material, vary considerably between countries in Europe.

On this page, browse and discover tools relating to not only chicken production, but also other poultry, like geese, guinea fowl, quails, turkeys, etc.