Socio-economic drivers for UK organic pullet rearers and the implications for poultry health

1. Certified organic pullet producers were surveyed to gain a better understanding of the production environment, to identify the key constraints to organic pullet rearing and to identify factors that affected bird health. 2. Pullet rearers had been involved in organic production for between 1 and 1...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British poultry science 2008-09, Vol.49 (5), p.525-532
Main Authors: Sparks, N.H.C, Conroy, M.A, Sandilands, V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture - economics
Agriculture - methods
animal health
Animal Welfare
animal well-being
Animals
Chickens - physiology
control methods
disease prevention
economic costs
farm profitability
farmers
farmers' attitudes
Female
Housing, Animal
Humans
mortality
motivation
organic production
poultry diseases
Poultry Diseases - prevention & control
poultry production
production economics
psychosocial factors
pullets
questionnaires
rearing
Socioeconomic Factors
surveys
United Kingdom
vaccination
viral diseases of animals and humans
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Summary:1. Certified organic pullet producers were surveyed to gain a better understanding of the production environment, to identify the key constraints to organic pullet rearing and to identify factors that affected bird health. 2. Pullet rearers had been involved in organic production for between 1 and 12 years. 3. The number of pullets reared per annum ranged from 6 to 12 000 and the number of birds housed per unit from 1000. 4. The primary reason for being involved in organic production was given as 'commercial' with 'environmental' and 'welfare' being the next most popular categories. 5. Fewer than 50% of the respondents vaccinated their flocks and, for those that were protected, the diseases vaccinated against frequently were Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis and Marek's disease. Annual mortality ranged from 7% with smothering accounting for 25% of all mortality. 6. Approximately 40% of respondents saw no constraints to rearing organic pullets while others identified a range of factors including capital, availability of land and inadequate margins as being the primary constraint.
ISSN:0007-1668
1466-1799
DOI:10.1080/00071660802290416