Natural or Organic? RAISING AND PRODUCING ‘FREE-RANGED’ CHICKEN

By Manny Pinol

With greater awareness and concern for healthy food, Filipino consumers now are starting to go back to the days of old when the vegetables were grown in the backyard free from chemical spray and chicken is chased in the free-range before it is prepared for lunch.

“Organic” and “Free-Ranged” are the prefixes to some of the chicken being marketed today to cash in on the great demand for naturally raised poultry.

But just what is “Organic” and “Free-Ranged”?

In its purest form, the word “Organic” simply means that the vegetable, chicken or other farm products are produced without using any chemical compounds to protect these from insects or pests and they are given feeds without growth hormones or synthetic additives.

“Free-ranged” chicken refers to those which are raised in the open yard where they could eat grass, insects and worms and are placed under the elements – sun and rain.

Given these definitions, it is safe to conclude that it is easy to raise a “free-ranged” chicken than to produce a truly “organic” chicken.

Feed formulator Ronald Tavita, who helped me with my feed mix for Manok PiNoy which does not use any synthetic additives or growth hormones posted a question in a poultry group website: “What is an ‘organic’ chicken?”

It is a very serious question because with the huge demand of the market for “free-ranged” and “organic” chicken, everybody makes the claim that he raises “free-ranged” and “organic” poultry.

I find it funny that some poultry growers claim that their chicken is “free-ranged” when they are placed inside a covered building protected from the elements.

Indeed, they are not caged and are allowed to roam around the enclosed area but these are not free-ranged chicken simply because the open space inside a roofed building is not a free-range.

It is also ridiculous to claim that the chicken being produced is “organic” when there is a vaccination program for fowl pox or Newcastle Disease (NCD) or even Marek’s.

In producing the Manok PiNoy which is expected to hit the market this summer, I never make the claim that it is “Organic.”

Why? Simply because while we are feeding them locally formulated and mixed feeds using chemical-free materials, Braveheart Farms implements an immunization program for our chicken to protect them from Fowl Pox and NCD.

I can vouch that they are naturally grown in the free-range and given feeds without any synthetic additives or growth hormones using mainly corn, rice bran, copra meal, soya, fish meal, molasses and a little lime and salt.

But in all honesty, I cannot claim that my Manok PiNoy is “Organic” because the chicks are protected from Fowl Pox and NCD with vaccines before they are set free in the range.

In the absence of a government-regulatory body, I believe it is best that backyard poultry raisers who are involved in the production of “naturally-grown” and “free-ranged” chicken should band themselves together to set standards.

By grouping themselves and setting guidelines and standards on what a “naturally-grown” and “free-range” chicken is, the Filipino backyard poultry raisers will be able to police themselves and stamp their seal on every farm which abides by the production rules.

In doing this, the backyard poultry raisers will be able to benefit from the premium of producing healthy chicken and assure the consumers that what they are buying in the market are guaranteed “naturally grown” and “free-ranged” chicken.

(Video caption: Video shows Manok PiNoy chicks being raised in the free-range.)