> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 01:41:11 +0100
> From: "John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>
> Subject: Re: sanet-mg-digest V1 #1760
>
> Just a few remarks,
>
> I see just about everybody taking it for granted that organic farmers make
> more money/profit. What is happening around me however does not point this
> way.
> How many eggs does a battery hen produce in a day with a two hours light /
> two hours dark cycle + chemical stimulation? 5 or more on average? Against
> less than one for mine.
Sometimes in an effort to make a point the truth gets stretched a bit. In
this case, a battery hen that lays 5 eggs per day is far enough from reality
that I feel compelled to offer a correction or two. First, commercial hens
still lay less than one egg per day, and they still sell for less than $1
per dozen. My organic hens lay less than one egg per day, too, but the eggs
sell for $2.69 per dozen. In this example, the organic markup is pretty
significant.
> An industrial broiler reaches slaughter weight 41 days after atching. In my
> system it takes at least 8 times as long to reach the same weight.
Secondly, if your broiler system really does take 328 days from hatching to
reach slaughter weight then I'm not a bit surprised that you can't make any
money at it. We just processed our first batch of broilers for the season,
and at 49 days they averaged 3.5 dressed weight for females and 4.5 dressed
weight for males, very acceptable on both counts.
Thirdly, for 30 years the organic regulations have been written and enforced
by organic farmers, and being certified is a voluntary condition. If you
don't want to be certified then don't, its that simple.
Regards,
Andy Lee
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