Methods for natural rooster farming

13 December 2023

3 minute learn

Natural animal husbandry is turning into more and more necessary in sustainable agriculture. Shoppers are more and more attaching significance to significantly animal-friendly husbandry – together with chickens. Poultry farming faces varied challenges. On the one hand, based on EU rules, natural chickens might solely be fed with uncooked supplies that come from one hundred pc natural manufacturing, which makes the availability of important amino acids resembling methionine and cysteine ​​tough. Then again, the breeding of so-called dual-purpose chickens – through which feminine animals are bred for egg manufacturing and male animals for meat manufacturing – is enjoying an more and more necessary position.

That is the place the GreenChicken challenge is available in, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Meals and Agriculture as a part of the Federal Natural Farming Program (BÖL) with a sum of round two million euros over 4 years. The intention of the analysis community between Justus Liebig College Giessen (JLU), probeda GmbH and the Analysis Institute for Natural Agriculture (FiBL) is to develop sustainable feeding methods for natural rooster farming and thereby enhance the environmental and local weather impacts. As well as, all the life cycle from the chick by means of the younger animal stage to the laying hen or younger cockerel ought to be thought-about. Current findings from follow and recommendation are taken under consideration to be able to develop sensible options.

The impact of various feeding methods in cellular rooster coops on the Oberer Hardthof instructing and analysis facility at JLU is being investigated in subject experiments. Three totally different breeds of chickens with totally different feed rations are examined all through all feeding phases. Explicit consideration is paid to adaptability to totally different protein sources. As well as, environmental indicators resembling greenhouse fuel and ammonia fuel emissions, water and land consumption and nitrate losses are measured and analyzed.

The agricultural science analysis group led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Gattinger, professor of Natural Agriculture, and Dr. Petra Engel, worker on the Professorship of Animal Breeding, can also be testing new feed for natural rooster farming within the type of insect meal or processed animal proteins from useful bugs. Accepted residues from agricultural manufacturing are used to acquire feed from useful bugs which have as little competitors as doable for human diet.

Based mostly on information from natural producers, animal breeding operations and feed producers, a complete sustainability evaluation of present natural rooster farming is carried out alongside all the course of chain. Explicit consideration is paid to the analysis of different feeds made out of processed animal proteins from useful bugs. Based mostly on this, suggestions for sustainable feeding methods are derived.

The GreenChicken challenge is predicated on the GreenDairy challenge, which is funded as a part of the LOEWE program of the state of Hesse. Each initiatives intention to develop built-in plant-animal agroecosystems to be able to additional enhance useful resource effectivity in addition to environmental and local weather impacts in natural and traditional agriculture. The JLU is thus additional increasing its capacities within the space of ​​sustainable, round animal husbandry methods (inexperienced livestock).

Headline picture courtesy of Lisa Dittrich.