Rene Preval Archives > Rene Preval > L industrie de volaille...

Chicken Farming in Haiti: Farm or Factory

Some Facts:Free Range Chickens.

Free range poultry farming consists of poultry permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner.

The principle is to allow the animals as much freedom as possible, to live out their instinctual behaviors in a reasonably natural way, regardless of whether or not they are eventually killed for meat. The chickens must have daytime access to open-air runs during at least half of their life, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities.Free range poultry farming has the advantage of enabling the poultry to move around, foraging for their natural diet and living in cleaner conditions than in battery farming.

The manure from free range poultry can be used to benefit crops.

The advantages and disadvantages of Factory Farming.

The small cages restrict movement, and allow for more birds per unit area, and this allows for greater productivity and lower space and food costs, with more efforts put into egg laying.[6] Battery farming is quicker, more economical and practical, and growth and output can be specifically controlled.

The poultry are at less risk from predators and outdoor elements such as cold, heat, wind or damp, all of which can have significant impact on yield and health of the animals.Disadvantages:The small environments reduce stimulation of the poultry, which often results in pecking each other or themselves whereas in the outdoors they would have other stimulation.

Battery farms are at greater risk of fire, due to the amount of electrical equipment and the likelihood of rodents chewing through the wiring.

The use of carbon dioxide gas to kill the birds prior to harvesting sometimes fails to cleanly kill the birds, causing a painfully slow death of suffocation.

Health concerns are not limited to the animals in battery farming.The US Department of Health released a list of risks to humans working in poultry battery farms and those living nearby, which included respiratory illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries, infections, odors and flies and chemical and infectious compounds in the soil which included the mixtures of antibodies, pathogens, nutrients, pesticides, hormones and other chemicals that are found in or are administered to battery poultry.

Trace elements of copper or arsenic were also found.

Outbreaks of Avian influenza have also been blamed on battery farming in South-East Asia.
How Chicken are Processed and Cooked in a Factory /45 Days: The Life and Death of a Broiler Chicken / rooster farm/ Bio-security on Canadian Chicken Farms