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Abstract
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 <50 to >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 <2 to >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.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the time and candour of the producers involved in this survey. This study was financially supported by BOCM Pauls Ltd, Burcombe Organic Hatchery, Danisco Animal Nutrition, EcoS Consultancy Ltd, Nor-Feed APS, Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Soil Association and Stonegate Farmers, with matched funding from Defra and SEERAD through the Sustainable Livestock Production LINK programme.