25 February 2016
Dutch poultry farmers with Gildehoen broilers are now virtually free of antibiotics. Research conducted by ForFarmers has shown the daily animal dosage has been well below one over the past year. “This is allowing the poultry farmers to provide an important contribution to a sustainable and healthy poultry production”, according to Rinze Exterkate, ForFarmers’ Broilers Marketing Manager.
The animals’ wellbeing is a central focus point at Gildehoen. The stables have lower occupation levels compared to regular chicks, they boast plenty of daylight and the chicks have constant access to foraging and play materials, stimulating active behaviour. Grain is also strewn alongside the complete feed, in order to give the animal’s natural behaviour a positive impulse.
Pleasant working conditions
The chicks grow at a slower pace and are kept for longer. Working with these animals is an enjoyable process for the broiler farmers. They are hardly ever ill. An additional advantage and also one of the strongest points in this concept, is the very low use of antibiotics. This is evident from this research; the daily animal dosage in the Netherlands was an average of 15.1 in 2014. The daily animal dosage at Gildehoen was well below 0.5 both in 2014 and 2015. It goes without saying all the experiences ForFarmers has gained with these concept chicks are also being used in regular broiler farming. ForFarmers is therefore also contributing to increased sustainability and improved health in the traditional sectors.
Daily animal dosage
The Daily Dosage (DD) concept is a standard measure for antibiotics usage. The Daily Dosage is based on the registered dosage of a medicine for the most common conditions in a specific type of animal.
Gildehoen
Gildehoen is a concept for slow-growing broilers, whereby ForFarmers works together with the Morren hatchery and the Esbro slaughterhouse. ForFarmers has gained more than 12 years of experience with slow-growing broilers and can provide feed and advice for all WelFair concepts with the Forza WelFair approach. After a successful start in 2010 with the Morren hatchery, the Probroed hatchery was also admitted as a supplier of Gildehoen day-old chicks in 2015.
ForFarmers wants to be a leading company in sustainability. ForFarmers contributes to an economically viable and sustainable feed production by efficiently producing animal feeds and developing products and concepts which make sure the animals can utilise the feed in a healthier and better way (improved feed efficiency). The Gildehoen concept demonstrates that ForFarmers can give true meaning to sustainability.