In what ways does organic farming improve animal welfare?
Organic standards aim to allow animals to express their natural behaviour and maintain a high standard of animal welfare. Anything that they would usually be able to do in the wild, organic farming tries to allow. They must be able to free range. They're kept in small numbers, small flocks and small herds. Animals are not routinely fed antibiotics on organic farms because we're all about preventing disease rather than curing it. We maintain animal welfare by making sure the pasture has to be rested for a certain amount of time to prevent parasites don't actually build up in the soil. Non-organic farmers don't have to do that because they rely on antibiotics to kill any diseases in animals, but in organic farming, pasture has to be rested. We don't allow any sort of mutilation, including beak trimming to prevent feather pecking, which can be a result of stress. We try to address the effects of stress in organic farming rather than addressing the causes of stress. Ringing of pigs is not allowed. They do that to prevent them from digging up their land, but that's what pigs do. They love to do that, so we allow that to happen on organic farms.
