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Chicken Types
It has only been since the 1960s that chicken has become a "cheap meat". Before then, roast chickens were saved for special occasions and families would gather around to enjoy their rich flavour. The industry has evolved from "the backyard" to a major food category. Within this broad category there are three distinct segments of chicken available to Australian consumers today.
Industrial Chicken
Industrial chicken is supplied by the conventional industry and is dominated by big firms such as Inghams and Barter/Steggles. It is produced as a low-cost option with the focus on scale, intensity, efficiency and early turnoff of birds.
Big, factory-style sheds are used to provide an artificially controlled environment. They are densely populated, with up to 60,000 birds kept in a single shed. Disease in these intensive livestock production systems is kept at bay by routine vaccination and medication programmes. While factory-farmed chicken is very efficient, some would say the animal welfare implications are unacceptable.
Free-Range Chicken
Certified free-range chicken is supplied by individual farmers as well as big companies such as Inghams and Biada. This system involves some efficiency compromises to provide a better environment for the birds. They are allowed to forage outside in a more natural environment that is better from an animal welfare perspective.
Organic Chicken
Certified organic chicken is supplied by individual farmers. Organic production comes from a holistic system which actively manages the linkage between healthy soils, plants, animals, food and people and promotes environmental sustainability and animal welfare.
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Key Differences
Governing Standards
The production of chicken is governed by standards. Some of these standards are government controlled and independently audited while others are specified by industry associations, free of any government oversight. Some are mandatory; others are voluntary. The standards vary significantly for each category of chicken and there are many loopholes. As a consequence the human health, animal welfare and environmental implications vary by each chicken segment and it is easy for consumers to be misled about this.
Some consumers are concerned about the risks of residues and toxins in food supplied by production systems which use artificial chemical inputs. Others are concerned about declining nutrient levels in food due to depleted soils, longer storage and more processing. Still others are concerned about animal welfare. Standards for chicken production vary in these matters.
Growth Promotants
While the use of the hormone group called "oestrogens" was banned in the 1960s, other growth promotants continue to be used in the conventional chicken industry. "To maintain consumer confidence in poultry products, hormonal growth promotants (stilbenes) are tested by the Commonwealth Government's National Residue Survey program" (Australian Chicken Meat Federation Inc.).
The Free-Range Poultry Association of Queensland has standards which are silent on this issue whereas the Free Range Egg and Poultry Association standards do not permit growth promoting hormones (www.grepa.com/standards).
The Australian Certified Organic Standards prohibit the use of hormones.
Antibiotics
The use of antibiotics in the conventional poultry industry is governed by the Australian Veterinary Poultry Association's Code of Practice (2001) endorsed by the Australian Chicken Meat Confederation of Australia. The code endorses the use of antibiotics for the purpose of disease management, disease treatment, and production enhancement (provided they are used under veterinary supervision).
In the conventional chicken industry, antibiotics are seen as a complement to good husbandry practices. The Australian Veterinary Association has developed a policy on therapeutics which refers to prescribing drugs to premix suppliers; feed mills and chicken farmers. The Australian Chicken Meat Federation says "There are some antibiotics or antimicrobials that are assessed and approved by Australia's regulatory authorities for use as feed additives for growth promotant purposes."
The Free Range Egg & Poultry Association prohibits the use of antibiotics or other medicines (treated birds must not be sold as Free Range). The Free-Range Poultry Association of Queensland is silent on this issue other than to state "Veterinary advice should always be sought when poultry are in ill health."
The Australian Certified Organic Standards prohibit the use of nitrogen supplements, growth promotants and hormones. Poultry can only be treated with antibiotics under exceptional circumstances and then must not be sold as certified organic. Routine vaccination is not permitted unless required by law or where it can be verified that organic management practices cannot control diseases.
Other Medicines
Free range and conventional chicken permit the use of coccidiostats until several days before slaughter. Some of these drugs are quite toxic (e.g. ionosphere such as lasalocid) and their residues in food would be detrimental.
Chicken Feed
The standards vary in relation to allowable feed for chickens.
The Code of Accepted Farming Practices for the Welfare of Poultry (which governs the conventional industry) states that "Poultry should receive a diet containing adequate nutrients to meet their requirements for good health."
The Free-Range Egg and Poultry Association stipulates that "natural foods only are permitted with the addition of vitamins and minerals as required", but is silent on what constitutes "natural foods". The Free-Range Poultry Association of Queensland is similarly vague, saying "birds must receive a diet containing adequate nutrients to meet their requirements for good health."
The organic standards are much more stringent because they prohibit feed grown with the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and genetic modifications. Australian Certified Organic stipulates that livestock must be fed on feedstuffs that comply with the organic standards.
Organics is not just chemical free, it is about the way our food is grown and handled throughout the whole system. Organic farmers argue that there is a strong link between healthy soils, healthy plants, healthy animals, healthy human food and a healthy environment. The onus is on the organic producer to ensure that all materials and equipment brought on to their farm is free of contaminating influences (requires residue testing).
Forage Areas
The forage areas for organic chicken must be green grass; over-grazed dirt is not acceptable.
The Free Range and Poultry Association's standards for free-range chickens stipulate "the land where birds are permitted to range must have shade, shelter and palatable vegetation...and must be capable of continued production of vegetation." The Free-Range Poultry Association of Queensland is silent on the need for grass (let alone green grass) in forage areas. They state that the range should be "managed to avoid muddy or unsuitable conditions. [and that] birds are not to be kept on land that has become contaminated."
Nutrition
Organic production systems are guided by the principal of producing naturally safe, high quality, nutritionally vital foods. Petaluma Poultry (an organic producer in the US) conducted nutritional testing using a USDA approved laboratory to compare the fat content of organic versus free-range chicken. The results indicated that organic whole birds contained 54-58% less fat than conventional birds and organic portions contained 30-33% less fat. Testing carried out for Inglewood Farms produced similar results.
Lifespan
The lifespan of organic chicken is much longer than free-range or conventional chickens. The organic standards specify that organic meat chicken must be grown to maturity over a period of 63 to 70 days; whereas conventional chicken is typically turned off in 38 days. While free-range standards are silent on this issue, the commercial incentive is to turn the birds off as young as possible.
Animal Welfare
Artificial lighting, stocking densities (indoor and outside ranging areas), housing arrangement and surgical procedures have animal welfare implications. While free-range standards are an improvement over conventional practices, organic accreditation ensures better animal treatment.
Free-range and organic standards outlaw the following conventional industry practices: beak trimming, toe removal, toenail trimming, blinkers, castration, de-voicing, flight restriction, and dubbing.
Artificial Lighting
Some producers use artificial lighting to manipulate the growth rate of chickens, inducing them to eat more by extending their waking hours. Conventional chicken standards allow artificial lighting without restrictions. These chickens are kept indoors and do not have access to natural light.
The lighting standards for free-range chickens differ by state. The Victorian Free-Range standards permit "continuous dim lighting...when it benefits the welfare of the birds" (but 'welfare of the birds' is not defined). In Queensland it is permissible to extend daylight up to 16 hours a day through artificial lighting even though "artificial lighting to encourage weight gain is not permitted".
The organic standards prohibit artificial lighting to extend daylight hours.
Indoor Stocking Densities
Indoor stocking densities impact animal welfare. If conditions are too cramped, chickens cannot spread their wings, stay cool, turn around or maintain natural eye contact.
Conventional meat chickens can be stocked up to 40kg/m2 of terminal live weight (approximately 16 birds/m2).
Free-range meat birds have a maximum indoor stocking density of 28kg of live birds per metre of floor space (about 11 birds) in Victoria "unless there is mechanical ventilation", in which case up to 40kg/m2 (about 16 birds) is permitted. In Queensland, the maximum stock density is 16kg/m2 (about 6.5 birds).
Organic chicken has a maximum indoor stocking density of 25kg/m2 (approximately 10 birds).
Free-Range Forage Areas
Conventional chickens have no access to the outdoors.
Free-range birds must have some form of access to the outdoors (although the size of the ranging area and stocking densities can vary). Neither the Government's Code of Acceptable Farming Practice for the Welfare of Poultry nor the Free Range Egg & Poultry Association of Australia Inc. specifies maximum outdoor ranging densities for meat chickens (although standards exist for laying hens and breeders).
The Free-Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia refers to the CSIRO's Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals which states: "when meat chickens use only some of the 10 week cycle on pasture (e.g. 4 weeks) a proportionately higher stocking density than for layers may be used (i.e. higher than 1,500 birds per hectare). Higher bird densities are acceptable provided the birds are rotated onto fresh range areas which must be managed closely to provide some continuing fodder". In Queensland, the ranging standards specify a maximum stocking rate of 2000kg of birds per hectare of forage areas (approximately 800 birds).
Organic standards stipulate a maximum stocking rate of 2500kg of live birds per hectare (approximately 1000 birds).
The FREPA website indicates that free-range chickens must be free to roam outside during daylight hours after they are fully feathered, approximately 21 days for meat birds. In other words, they can spend over 50% of their lifespan indoors. On the other hand, organic chickens must forage after 10 days so they are outside for roughly 85% of their lifespan.
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Summary Comparison Chart
|
Chemical
Free |
Free
Range |
Certified
Organic |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No |
No |
Yes |
No
No
|
Yes
Yes
|
Yes
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
No
No
No
No
|
No
No
No
No
No
|
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
|
Yes |
No |
Yes |
35–40 days |
35–40 days |
65–80 Days |
No
No
N/A
None
|
Yes
No
After 21 days
Roughly 50%
|
Yes
Yes
After 10 days
Roughly 85%
|
No
Crowded
|
No
Uncrowded
|
Yes
Uncrowded
|
No independent supervision |
Monitored by industry associations No government supervision |
Government controlled & independently audited |
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