Organic Centre Wales has produced a new technical guide entitled ‘Organic poultry production for meat’, funded through the Farming Connect Organic Development Programme.
The guide covers all the main aspects of production and processing, including feeding, breeds, brooding, growing the birds, range management, slaughtering and processing, gross margins and other financial data.
It is written by Steve Merritt from the Welsh Poultry Centre, Rebecca Kelly from the Organic Research Centre Elm Farm and Simon Moakes at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, and draws on over 15 years of practical experience, the latest research findings and the most recent financial data available.
Tony Little from Organic Centre Wales, who edited the guide, said: “We have been receiving an increasing number of enquiries from people interested in producing organic table birds, including organic farmers diversifying into poultry, conventional farmers considering conversion and new entrants into farming. This guide is primarily aimed at people starting organic production for the first time, but I hope that more experienced producers will also find it useful.”
The guide is available to download from http://www.organiccentrewales.org.uk/uploads/poultry_guide_english.pdf or http://www.organiccentrewales.org.uk/uploads/poutry_guide_welsh.pdf and as hard copy from OCW from19 April 2010.
