Poultry Farm Field Trip

Our first field trip of the semester was to Georgie Cartanza’s organic poultry farm.  To maintain the biosecurity on that farm, we all had to suit up when we got there.  Georgie’s farm has 156,000 birds split up evenly between four houses.  Within the past 3 – 3 ½ years, she transitioned to be an organic bird grower.  Originally, she grew regular roasters and switched to organic broilers.  Operating an organic poultry farm has different expectations compared to a regular poultry farm.  Georgie has tunnel ventilation and evaporative cooling pads to keep the chickens at a comfortable temperature.  Since it is an organic farm, Georgie had to install windows, little doors to let the chickens outside, and enrichment areas.  The organic chickens are given the option to roam outside when they want to, which is what the little doors are used for.  Surprisingly, Georgie said not many of the chickens want to go outside.  The enrichment areas include ramps and bully boxes that are used as “toys” for the chickens.  Also, the feed, temperature, and water are all controlled electrically.  One of the big changes in becoming an organic poultry farm is the type of food the chickens are fed.  The chickens are fed organic food that is imported from Turkey and Argentina.  Georgie showed us how well chickens are treated in the poultry industry.  She recommended to any of us who want to enter the field of poultry that we learn about the poultry industry, take poultry and business classes, and are willing to learn, work, and have a positive attitude.

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