New Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens, and Turkeys released

Jun 15, 2016

Many organizations were involved in its creation

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A number of poultry-related organizations have worked together with the National Farm Animal Care Council to release a revised Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens, and Turkeys.

Some of the updates in chicken and turkey care include:

A shift in lighting regimens, which now require farmers to provide their birds with a minimum of four hours of dark time per day to rest (up from 0-1 hours per day).
New requirements for immediate vet care for sick and injured birds.
New requirements for humane euthanasia.

Chickens

“The Code of Practice supports the sustainability of Canadian poultry industries and the success of farmers,” said Vernon Froese, poultry farmer and Chair of the Code Development Committee in a release. “Stakeholder commitment is the key to ensuring that quality animal care standards are established and implemented”

The Code Committee included input from poultry farmers, enforcement representatives, researchers, hatcheries, transporters and processors. The public was also invited to provide its input.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.