Wie viel Arbeit macht die Aufzucht von Ökologischen Junghennen? Arbeitwirtschaftlicher Vergleich der konventionellen und ökologischen Aufzucht von Legehennen

Summary

Organic pullets are reared with daylight and are not beak-trimmed. Therefore, certain provisions are needed in order to prevent feather-pecking and cannibalism. Respec-tive guidelines are set by the German Organic Associations. It was the goal of this study to investigate whether the higher rearing standards are associated with an increased labour demand compared to conventional rearing systems. Using a ques-tionnaire, data from 32 hen-houses (10 conventional and 6 organic barn systems, 10 conventional and 6 organic aviary systems) about duration and number of working procedures were collected and exemplary models calculated. Total labour demand was between 2.36 and 7.37 worker`s hours/100 pullets. It did not differ between or-ganic and conventional rearing when comparing similar flock sizes, but were partly differently allocated to the different working procedures. On average, organic farms had smaller flocks, and there was a large influence of flock size on labour demand with small houses requiring most labour per hen. Also aviaries were more labour demanding than barn systems, but were usually associated with higher flock sizes. Our results indicate that improved pullet rearing that allows the birds to perform their natural behaviour more completely, does not necessarily cause higher labour re-quirements.