2.35 Billion Chickens Are Raised This Way By European Farmers - Chicken Farming

Hello my friends, on the green fields, chickens stride leisurely, they freely run, forage and sunbathe. This is a familiar scene of free-range chicken farms in Europe. In today's video, we'll visit these farms to see how millions of free-range chickens are raised. Poultry is the second most produced and consumed meat in the European Union, after pork. In particular, it is estimated that about 90% of chickens for meat are raised in housing systems like this in the EU. Chickens drink water from the tap, eat food on a chain and just stand in place and enjoy everything. But unfortunately, chickens raised this way are not as happy as we think. You see, the cramped space and not being able to move freely can easily cause chickens to become stressed. Although factory farms can control diseases at a very high level, they cannot however, deny the fact that chickens are kept in poor conditions and suffer from heart, skin, lung and bone problems. To improve the living environment for livestock and provide quality chicken meat to the market, some farmers have chosen to graze chickens in natural environments. The free-range method allows chickens to have at least a few hours a day to engage in their natural behaviours, instead of being locked up in a coop 24-7. This is considered a bright spot in the livestock industry in European countries. He is spreading straw to help keep the chicks warm. They will be cared for in the cage for about the first two weeks of life. This helps to ensure the health of the chickens before they are transferred to the outdoor free-range period. Forget the industrial chickens being kept in cramped cages. At this farm in Spain, you can see pictures of free-range chickens that look like birds, roaming the grasslands and enjoying a happy natural life. Farmers will cover the area where free-range chickens operate with a layer of fences. While grazing, they will stand nearby to observe and protect the chickens from predators such as feral cats or coyotes. In case farmers are busy with other work on the farm, the task of protecting free-range chickens will fall to herding dogs. In addition to the main foods of rice, corn and synthetic bran, free-range chickens will eat anything they find while digging, mostly grass and insects in the soil. This also contributes to reducing food costs for farmers. They can spend that money on other jobs on the farm. However, not all free-range chickens have the ability to find good food in the natural environment. Therefore, sometimes farmers will provide pelleted synthetic feed right on the pasture like this, for the free-range chickens to supplement their energy. One of the reasons why free-range chickens are popular is because they get a lot of exercise, their meat is firm, delicious and low in fat. Not only that, when free-range chickens are exposed to sunlight, it helps to produce vitamin D and reduces the risk of common diseases in poultry. There is no general rule for raising free-range chickens. Each farmer will have different methods, depending on the economic and environmental conditions of their farms. Farmers with more than 7 years of experience said that to achieve high efficiency, it is necessary to pay attention to climate control. Besides, reducing stocking density throughout the entire production process can also limit negative impacts on productivity. Let's visit a free-range chicken farm in England. Every day, these free-range chickens spend one third of their time on the grasslands. Farmers will gather them into barns in the afternoon or during bad weather. Sustainable livestock farming is what free-range chicken farmers in Europe aim for. Therefore, in order for free-range chickens to have a living environment close to nature, farmers will take advantage of land with naturally growing grass like this. Besides preparing a spacious area of land, having a clean water source and safe food are essential. Farmers can also build simple barns for chickens to shelter when needed. A barn model that can be easily moved and opened and closed like this is the optimal choice. You may know this, chicken manure has the ability to help keep the soil healthy. But soil receiving large amounts of chicken manure over a long period of time is a different story. This can cause soil pollution. Therefore, farmers need to move the coop to another area so that the chickens can access new food sources and give the soil in the old location time to recover. For fixed barn models like this, some farmers choose to install cameras in the barn to be able to observe the conditions of the chickens extensively. When abnormal signs are detected, the chickens will be taken to a healthcare facility immediately. The free-range chicken market is competitive and food safety criteria are very strict. Therefore, raising chickens not only requires patience and hard work, but farmers also have to be creative to develop. Some farmers will take advantage of spoiled agricultural products on the farm, such as roughage from free-range chickens. This both avoids wasting agricultural products and helps the chickens to have more different food sources. For egg-laying chickens, the average raising period is 18 to 20 weeks and they can lay eggs for about 2 to 3 years. There is an estimated 430 million egg-laying chickens raised across the EU, and they produce nearly 7.5 million tons of eggs each year. At the farm in eastern France, home to about 1,400 free-range chickens, every morning farmers will visit the barn and start collecting eggs. After checking the quality, these eggs will be taken to food markets and restaurants in the area. Most breeders find that broiler chicken breeds have a relatively quick growth process, with an average rearing time of 35 to 50 days. When free-range chickens reach a weight of 5 to 7 pounds, they are sent to the slaughter plant. Here, they are slaughtered using the throat-cutting method to ensure the chickens die quickly and without pain. After cleaning the hair and removing the internal organs, workers will process to separate the meat, bones, and skin. Finally, free-range chickens are packaged and stored in cold conditions to ensure quality. We have just finished our journey to European livestock farms. Here, we can see that properly implementing the process of raising free-range chickens will help improve productivity and economic efficiency, while ensuring product quality for the consumer market. Hello my friends, Iowa is a midwestern state in the United States, with an area of about 35.8 million acres. Of that, up to 31.3 million acres of land in the state is used for agricultural production. For many years now, Iowa has always been one of the states with the highest agricultural revenue in the country, second only to California. In 2021, the state's total agricultural sales is 26.4 billion dollars, less than half that of California. According to USDA statistics, as of mid-2022, there are about 85,000 active farms in Iowa, and the average size of a farm in this state is about 345 acres. Currently, operations on farms in Iowa are mainly corn, soybean, oat, raising pigs, cattle, and dairy production. In addition, agriculture in Iowa is also known for its large apple and cherry farms. Every year, tens of thousands of ranches in Iowa provide full-time and part-time employment to approximately 801,000 workers, and the state's agricultural workforce accounts for about 4.5 percent of the population. We're currently on a pig farm in Washington County, southwest Iowa. It is home to 115 sows, and each year about 2,000 piglets are born on this farm. At this farm, hundreds of piglets will be exclusively breastfed for a month before they are fed other foods. In recent years, Iowa has always been the state with the largest number of pigs in the country, with about 24 million pigs. They are distributed on 5,418 farms. Second on this list is Minnesota, with about 8.7 million pigs. When the piglets reach five weeks of age, they will be fed the same feed as the sow, and this will be maintained for about a month before they are separated for fattening. These are hundreds of three-month-old pigs on a farm in Hamilton County, eastern Iowa. All these pigs have just been separated from the mother pig and will begin to enter the fattening stage. Currently, most pig farms in Iowa have a big population, ranging from Large-scale pig farms with a population of more than 5,000 make up only about 20 percent of the state's pig farms. At Iowa hog farms, pigs are considered eligible for harvest once they reach six to seven months of age and weigh between 150 and 190 pounds. This is what happens when hundreds of pigs on this farm are eligible for the meat harvest. All of them will be transported by truck to the pork factory, and this will be the last trip for these pigs. According to statistics in 2021, in the United States there are about 2,780 pork production facilities in operation, and each hour, 1,106 pigs are slaughtered across the country. Every year, the number of pigs slaughtered across the country is between 127 and 130 million heads. In addition to modern pig farms, there are also dozens of free-range pig farms in Iowa. However, these are usually small-scale pig farms, and the number of pigs only fluctuates in the range of a few dozen. Goodbye pig farms! We will now go to cattle farms in Iowa to see how the process of raising millions of cattle happens. Unlike the cattle herds in Texas or Nebraska, most cattle in Iowa are raised on factory farms and rarely graze on large pastures. In recent years, most cattle in Iowa have been purchased from cattle ranchers in other states. Hundreds of these calves are preparing to be shipped to cattle ranchers in Iowa. According to USDA statistics, as of June 2022, there are about 19,000 active cattle ranchers in Iowa, and the number of cattle in the state is about 3.85 million heads. This is a cattle ranch in Ringgold County, southern Iowa, and all of the cattle here are raised for the purpose of harvesting meat. Every day, the workers on this farm will provide food and water for the cattle, instead of herding them to the vast grasslands. Basically, the meat quality of cattle raised in barns will not be as high as that of cattle grazing on pasture. According to statistics, in 2021, the cattle industry in Iowa usually brings in about 17,000 jobs, and the value that cattle brings to this state is about 4.1 billion dollars. This is a cattle ranch in Sioux County, south of Iowa. Here, hundreds of cattle spend most of their lives living in barns or concentrated enclosures. They are only herded out into the pasture about twice a week, and this period does not last more than three hours. This is what happens when the cows are eligible for meat. They are shipped to slaughterhouses and end up here. In 2021, approximately 895,000 beef cattle were slaughtered in Iowa, and the state's beef production is approximately 667 million pounds, ranking 12th in the nation for beef production. Next, we will go to the fields of western Iowa to see how artichokes are cultivated and harvested. June to August is usually a good time to start the process of growing artichokes in the fields of Iowa. According to USDA statistics, in 2021, there are five active artichoke farms in Iowa, and the area of artichoke cultivation in this state is about 27 acres, accounting for one percent of the area planted with this plant in the country. Currently, most artichoke varieties grown in the United States require about 160 to 180 days to be eligible for harvest. This is what happens in the artichoke fields in Iowa when the harvest season begins. Dozens of migrant workers will cut down the artichoke buds and deliver them to the site for packaging. According to statistics, in 2021, the production of artichokes in Iowa is about 189,000 pounds. Meanwhile, the production of artichokes harvested in the state of California amounted to 87 million pounds, accounting for 96 percent of the national production. At some farms, thousands of artichoke buds after being harvested will be packed right in the field before being shipped to farmers markets. In addition, a large amount of artichokes will also be sent to factories to be processed into other products, such as beverages or pharmaceuticals. When it comes to Iowa agriculture, we can't help but mention the vast cornfields, because this is considered a symbol of the agricultural industry in this state. For about 20 years, Iowa has always been the leading state in the country in corn production. According to statistics, in 2021, up to 13.3 million acres of farmland in Iowa is used to grow corn, and the harvest in this state is about 2.4 billion bushels, accounting for 16 percent of the national production. Not only famous for its vast cornfields, Iowa is always mentioned where we talk about soybean production in the United States. Currently, 10 million acres of farmland is used to grow soybeans in the state, and the soybean yield in Iowa is 631 million bushels, or 14 percent of the national production. In recent years, agricultural land in Iowa has always accounted for 85 to 87 percent of the state's area, and the state is second only to Nebraska in the percentage of land used for agricultural production.