Organic chicken? No thanks!
Our chicken is not organic or certified by KRAV (the organisation that regulates and certifies organic produce in Sweden). We don’t want it to be. Instead, we have chosen another route that we consider to be more ecologically sustainable. If we were raising organic chicken, we would need to use fishmeal in the starter feed for the birds to feel good. It contributes to over-fishing of the seas which is not ecologically sustainable.
If we bred organic chicken, we would also have to import a lot of feed, which is also not environmentally sustainable. Today, we use mostly locally farmed feed instead. We think this is ecologically sustainable!
SWEDISH CLIMATE IS NOT VERY OUTDOORs-FRIENDLY
The Swedish climate is very varied. Except for a few summer months, the weather often changes very quickly between cold, rain, and wind. When the chickens go outside, their legs and feet get wet. The chickens bring back the moisture into the stable bedding, which easily becomes corrosive and damages the feet and legs of the birds. We don’t want that to happen. Our birds should have healthy feet, which they have today.
One of the tools we use to check the welfare of the chickens is the foot score. In each flock, our veterinary assistants assess the chickens' feet. A value of zero is the best result, while 200 is a bad result. The foot score for our flocks is usually zero or close to zero. Thanks to this, our birds are active and like to move throughout the stable.
INFECTIONS IN CIRCULATION BRINGS RISKS
With the outside also comes great risks for various infections, such as campylobacter and salmonella. We do not want to expose our customers to that. In recent years, bird flu has been very active in Sweden. During periods of bird flu, it is not permitted for the chickens to stay outside, sometimes in different zones and sometimes in the whole of Sweden.
We do not want to put the chickens or our customers at risk. We have instead chosen to invest in a good indoor environment with almost twice as much space per bird, compared to what is required. Ventilation, air quality, temperature, water and feed are controlled via computer. Should something occur, the staff will be alerted immediately. We visit each stable twice a day and check the chickens and the environment, to ensure that the birds are doing well.