Last weekend, September 7th we had the opportunity to go to a chicken farm in lower Delaware. While at this farm we were able to experience first hand the environment that chicken farmers work in and get a small peek into the industry. As we spent our Saturday morning and afternoon there, topics such as extension, the poultry industry as a whole, Delmarva poultry industry, politics, and much more was discussed. I particularly enjoyed the statistics that was shared involving jobs as 1 job in the poultry industry creates 7 jobs in the community in Sussex county. It was incredible to see the beginning process of where our food comes from, I could not get over how many chickens are grown on one farm here in Delaware. Furthermore, I found it to be very interesting that the farm is an organic chicken farm where a lot of the regulations put into place are from a consumer standpoint rather than scientific. The trip was very eye opening, especially to someone who has never been educated on the poultry industry. I feel like I better understand another area of agriculture and am more well rounded. I was unaware of how many different variables go into chicken farms and how critical electricity is and keeping the chickens alive.
Category Archives: Field Trips-Tours
Poultry Farm Visit
On Saturday, September 7th, our class visited Georgie Cartanza’s poultry farm. As a class we broke down many common misconceptions of the poultry industry. Some of the largest being the use of hormones and antibiotics to make the chickens grow larger rather than years of breeding and ideal growth conditions. We then had the opportunity to explore the chicken houses first hand filled with chicks that just arrived days ago! One of the neatest things I learned during the trip was the constraints of organic vs. ordinary poultry farmers.
Georgie Cartanza’s Organic Poultry Farm
On Saturday, September 7, my classmates and I traveled to Dover to visit Georgie Cartanza’s Organic Poultry Farm. I enjoyed this field trip a lot because I saw how dedicated Georgie was about raising these organic chickens. For two years in High School, I took care of our chickens. From only working in a little chicken coop, it was nice to witness someone doing it on a larger scale. Here on Georgie’s farm, she has 4 chicken houses. Each contain 37,000 chickens (Ross 708), which is equal to 148,000 chickens on the farm. These chickens are straight run Broilers, meaning that 50% are girls and 50% are boys. In regards to taking care of these birds, it takes a lot of time and hard work to get these birds in the right conditions for them to be processed. Although there was mention of mortgage payments, electricity bills and feed costs, not once did Georgie complain. She kept a huge smile on her face, and continued to educate the class about her poultry farm. I could tell that Ms. Georgie loves what she does, which is something that I admire about her. This field trip was a great experience for me, and it was interesting to learn about what goes on inside an Organic Poultry Farm!!
Georgie Cartanza’s Organic Poultry Farm
Lately, it seems that the topic of raising the food that we eat organically has become a popular, but highly split discussion. Due to social media and its portrayal in the news, non-organic farming seems to be getting a bad rep. A decent amount of people feel that the organic farming is so drastically different than organic, that by in comparison the chickens are treated inhumanly. As an individual who has not grown up on a far, I have become very interested in finding out what the real difference between the two types of chicken raising. So when my Agriculture class took a field trip to Georgie Cartanza’s organic poultry farm on Saturday, August, 7th, I saw this as my chance to see for myself. Upon arrival at the farm, Mrs. Cartanza walked us through the specifics of poultry farming. Although there are many similarities between traditional and organic farms, such as how their buildings are set up, the main differences aren’t actually that important. Apparently Cartanza has been given certain restrictions and requirements by her bosses, such as requiring the chicks to have the option of spending a certain amount of time outside and providing them with toys (a bully box and a ramp) to play with. Another difference is that the chicks must be fed strictly feed that has never come in contact with either pesticides or antibiotics. This may seem like a chickens paradise, but according to Georgie Cartanza, some of these requirements don’t necessarily benefit the chicks. Being able to walk out in the open can actually expose the chicks to a great risk of avian diseases. All in all, the organic poultry farm was very enjoyable because I was able to to see it’s layout and interact with the day old chicks. From a personal viewpoint, it seems that organic poultry farming is just an alternative way of raising chicks, more so than being better than tradition poultry farming. This experience was very beneficial to my search for the truth of the depiction of Agriculture in the United States.
Organic Poultry Farm
Saturday, September 7th, 2019, The University of Delaware students took a tour of one of the most well known Poultry Farms in Delmarva. Georgie Cartanza, the owner of the Poultry Farm, gave a captivating presentation about her poultry farm and the Poultry Industry in its entirety. Delmarva is comprised of 12 counties in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. These 12 counties produce 605 million birds annually which is 9.6% of the national production. This is astonishing considering how small Delmarva is compared to the rest of the Nation. Georgie Cartanza not only gave an informative presentation on the Poultry Industry but she gave us an inside look into the poultry houses where she raises her organic chickens.
Field trip to the poultry farm
For our first field trip, our class went to an organic poultry farm. It was very interesting and exciting to be able to go around this farm and have a hands on tour with the lady who runs it, Ms. Georgie. She showed us a lot of different things that made her poultry farm different and unique to many others. One of her biggest things technology why’s that helps her run her farm are the big computer operated boxes that are located just inside the chicken house, and these boxes all Ms. Georgie to control every single aspect in the house from how hot or cold it is, to how much food and water the chickens drink, to even vents and windows. With this technology this allows her to run a massive chicken farm with only one person because she is able to do everything electronically and does not have to do it by hand. Before coming on this field trip I never knew how many chickens were actually kept inside one house and I was amazed to see how many there actually were once we walked inside the house. Ms.Georgie treated her animals very well and made sure they are always as happy as possible and gave them everything they need, even access to the outside even though many birds don’t go outside anyway, as well as enrichment toys which I thought was pretty cool.
An inspirational woman in Agriculture: Poultry
It is a truly rare experience to encounter someone in life that inspires you. I have been to many states, I have seen some great wonders in this country but a visit to Georgie Cortanza’s organic poultry farm places high on my list of lifechanging opportunities. I have always dreamed of being a farmer, merging my love for animals, wildlife, and a hard day’s work, however, I didn’t grow up in an agricultural family and believed that being a rancher in Montana was far out of reach for me. Many posts will discuss the countless information Georgie showed us but perhaps for me, the story about an average woman following a dream stood out to me. Not only did Georgie embark on the journey into poultry farming as a woman having not grown up in a farming family, but she continues to be an inspirational figure in Delaware agriculture and beyond. Despite the intimidating initial investment, Georgie stuck to her goals where she now manages four flocks of about 156,000 chickens a year equal to 5.5 million pounds of meat, feeding families all over. Georgie became the first and only American to receive the Nufeld scholarship where she traveled to numerous countries including Brazil and New Zeland. She continues to use modern-day approaches to poultry farming and extension outreach to help improve the public’s perceptions about the poultry industry.
Positively Poultry
Poultry farming has been a very controversial topic in the news lately. There has been a lot of talk about hormones in chickens, family farms being factory farms, chickens being housed in cramped spaces and unhealthy living environments, etc. Not only was all of this proven not to be true by organic chicken farmer, Georgie Cartanza, but just because those things are being said, being in the poultry business can be more difficult. Chickens were believed to have been given hormones in order to grow to the size that they are today in comparison to those 50 years ago. The reality is, because of better feed and selective breeding, chickens have just gradually become larger. Georgie Cartanza gave examples of why someone might think her chicken farm was a factory farm and the truth of the matter is, because of advancements in technology, farmers are able to take care of more birds and more efficiently. Many times pictures are taken on a farm but are focused on an area that can be construed badly. The reason chickens look so cramped is because they flock closely together. Any animal will group together whether it’s for warmth, the sense of security, or safety. The chickens had more than enough room to roam, they just chose to be close to others. Even with all of the stigma going around about chicken farming, Georgie Cartanza still takes care of her business with a positive attitude. The advice she gave to all of us in pursuing any career was to always be positive.
Poultry Farm Class Field Trip
Getting to go visit a local poultry farm in person was an awesome experience. Learning about all the ways chicken farmers have been able to create a better product though healthy and efficient ways was a very eye-opening experience especially with all the negative news and social media surrounding the field recently. Being able to see first hand how the chickens are cared for and hear an actual farmers side of the story could really clear up a lot of misconceptions anyone might have. For me, the opportunity to go see what kind of techniques are used and the work being done was great because it gave me a greater insight into not only what that avenue of life might entail but also where my food comes from.
Poultry Farm Field Trip
Going to the Poultry Farm was truly eye opening experience for me. Personally when I think of poultry farming I just thought of farming chickens when really there is much more than that, especially when it comes to organic chicken farming. I would have never thought about the how they couldn’t use rodenticides or insecticides on these farms because honestly I didn’t think that it would effect the chicken that much. Something that really amazed me was when Mrs.Cartanza was talking about how when she opens the doors for the chickens to go outside and not a lot of them do. But, that makes me happy to think that the chickens are just as or more happy in the chicken houses. Another thing I found very interesting was the size comparison from chickens in 1957 to chickens today and it’s crazy to think that genetics and a few other improvements did all that. But, those are the types of animal improvements we need to make to be able to feed are ever growing population. I just want to say thank you to Mrs.Cartanza for a very informal trip.
Field Trip 1: Organic Poultry Farm
On Saturday, September 7th, our class went on a field trip to a poultry farm run by Georgie Cortanza in Kent County, Delaware. She has 4 chicken houses which hold 37,000 chickens a house and 148,000 chickens in total. They weigh 913,900 pounds a flock. A flock is a certain number of birds in one group. She has 5.5 flocks in one year and makes 5,000,000 pounds a year. In total, she feeds 59,808 people a year. Georgies runs an organic farm, meaning that all the chickens there are free range. This means that they get to go outside for a period of time each day.
Chickens are one of the animals that have a lower carbon footprint. The only one lower is fish! The carbon index for chicken is 6.2 versus cows which is 16.2. A chicken also requires less feed for an outcome, which makes it better economically for the farmer. For every 1 job in the poultry industry, it creates 7 more jobs.
My favorite part of the field trip was seeing the baby chicks of course. They are very soft and fun to hold.
What does it Mean to be an Organic Poultry Farmer? – A visit to Georgie Cartanza’s Poultry Farm
Georgie Cartanza welcomed the class to her Organic Poultry Farm in Little Creek, Delaware; ran under Perdue’s organic branch Coleman Natural Foods. She has been raising broilers for almost 15 years now and has seen how the organic sector has changed throughout the years. What does organic chicken mean? The United States Department of Agriculture declares poultry organic if it is GMO and hormone-free, has access to the outdoors with enrichment toys and shade, plus has significant space in the chicken house with access to natural sunlight. These environmental requirements were all set and pushed for by the consumer in order to provide chickens with a “happy” lifespan since the number one questions consumers ask about their food is if it is humanly produced. However, many of these requirements may or may not be the best option for the health and safety of the chickens. Biosecurity is a top priority for any food system. Chickens having open access to the outside affect the biosecurity of the chickens. Pests, predators, and diseases have a higher chance of affecting the flock. In a few years, Georgie will have to plant tall grasses, trees, and other natural plants to provide shade for the outside pasture to meet updated organic standards. While the tall grasses can be planted in front of the house fans to help control air quality, the trees could attract predators and welcome other vectors of disease. As Georgie best puts it: raising chickens is a balancing act between consumer wants and what is best for the chicken. It is very clear how much she cares and loves for the chickens and wants the best all-around.
Poultry Farm
This field trip in the poultry farm was fascinating. I am glad to learn many new things about that not only the agriculture, but also the future career and life. It is a rare chance to engage this kind of activities. Mrs. Georgie Cortanza run this organic poultry farm well. And she explained what organic chicken mean is. The chicken has to had players, an opportunity to access to the outdoors and enjoy the natural light which means that install windows in the chicken house, a big chicken house, be fed organic food, and not be fed any growth hormones or antibiotics. Consumers claimed those factors that can make chicken become a “happy” and “healthy” chicken and it is humanity. But the thing is that when chicken can enjoy outdoor time and no antibiotics, the chance to get sick may increase, when they enjoy natural light, they will be more active, then they will have more movement, then they will lose weight. We don’t know if chicken is happy or not. Like the Mrs. Cortanza said, when you focus on a side, you gonna lose other side. It depends. That is what I learn in today.
Poultry Farm Field Trip – Sean Michael
On Saturday, September 7, the class went to Ms. Georgie’s organic poultry farm. We learned about the life of a broiler chicken, the kind that is grown for its meat, which is typically around 8 weeks. We learned that chickens are very good at turning their food into body weight, it only takes 1.7 pounds of food to gain 1 pound of body weight. To me, the most interesting part of the trip was learning about the tunnel composting of the chickens that do not survive their early life. I found it crazy how the chickens and pine tree shavings were reduced to so little material after just 2 weeks in the vessel. This amazing progression in technology drastically reduces the volume of Ms. Georgie’s compost, but there is a lot less effort in the whole process, thus saving valuable time. Overall the whole trip was a pretty eye-opening experience, seeing where my food really comes from gives me a different perspective on the whole food safety debate. I very much enjoyed the look of a hairnet and full body suit (pic related), completed with a pair of shoe bootie cover things, and appreciate the treat of Chick-Fil-A for lunch.
Cartanza Organic Poultry Farm
“The poultry industry is critically important to our economy; a lot of people don’t understand that” (Georgie Cortanza). 13 years ago, Ms Georgie Cortanza built four chicken houses that are 65ft wide and 600ft long, each of which hold 37,000 chickens per house and total to around 148,000 birds on the farm. Currently, in the chicken houses, are the breed Ros 708 broilers, that are grown in a time span based off of the consumers desire of the weight of the chicken meat they are purchasing; which is typically six and a half pounds and makes the bird seven weeks of age when they leave the farm. From this farm, 5 million pounds of meat is produced a year, which could feed about 780,000 families all due to the technology, tools, and procedures that are used on the organic farm. On this organic farm, and many other organic poultry farms, producers must follow certain standards of the USDA and those standards are the broilers are fed organically grown feed which mostly comes from the countries Argentina and Turkey due to the U.S. not growing enough organic plants for feed for organically grown chickens and the birds must be raised in a 92 degree fahrenheit temperature in the house which must be close or equal to when the birds are allowed access to the outdoor enrichment space with access to water from drips that hang from the ceiling as well as feed that are in small troughs lined up bellow them.
Enrichment is a part of the organically grown process which is driven by consumers; the broiler houses must have large windows to allow natural light to be in the houses and the birds must have access to enrichment tools both inside and outside of the houses. Outside of the houses, the birds on the farm have a fenced in area for the birds to roam and have natural shade for the birds to hide in. While inside, the broilers have enrichment ramps and bully boxes for them to “play” with. However, with the enrichment comes many risks, as when the birds are let outside, the flock in the house risks obtaining avian influenza that is transmitted from overhead migrating birds. From this experience, many things can be learned especially those unfamiliar with the organic farm and poultry farms in general.
Throughout this experience, I learned Ms. Cortanza and other poultry farmers, specifically organic poultry farmers, take on many risks to grow the most amount of poultry in a short period of time; as throughout this process, they may encounter predators from the outdoor space and the chance of the birds obtaining avian influenza which could cause the number in the flock to decrease dramatically. Also, throughout this experience, I learned something that grabbed my interest and that was the use of technology that Ms.Cortanza used that most poultry growers did not. Ms. Cortanza uses the in-vessel composter which allows her to produce more efficient and reliable manure that can help famers dramatically with their crops growth. I also discovered that the organic poultry industry was driven by consumers to increase their probability of purchasing the product. For example, the enrichment tools on Ms. Cortanza’s farm and many other poultry farms, were created and placed on the farm to create a “happy” behavioral environment for chickens which makes consumers feel better and more likely to purchase the chicken due to knowing the chickens were produced in a good environment. Overall this experience was very interesting and educating as the knowledge Ms. Cortanza provided myself and the other students within the understanding todays ag class is very important and can be used in the future to help educate others about the poultry industry and in our purchases for that specific product.