Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
has seen an increase in the numbers of those species
which are naturally lean and/or provide a source of milk
other than cow's milk, for example, goats and deer. In the
United Kingdom, there are now over 88 000 goats, with
approximately 33 000 milk-producing goats in England
and Wales (DEFRA 2003). Goat milk can be utilised in
the production of many commercial products including
hard and soft cheeses and yoghurt. Meat is a by-product,
as are skins and goat hair. Steps were recently taken in
Britain to produce home-bred mohair and cashmere
from imported Angora goats.
Domesticated goats, descended from native breeds in
the East, probably Iran, are found throughout the world,
even in torrid and frigid zones where they are superior to
cows for milk production. Besides milk, some breeds are
kept for their hair, for example, Angora and Cashmere,
while young goats are a source of kid leather. They are
especially useful for small-scale milk production and
can be maintained in buildings and on pasture where it
would not be possible to keep cattle or sheep.
Breeds can be roughly classified into two main
groups: Swiss, which are prick eared and include Alpine
and Toggenburg; and Nubian, which are African in
origin, chiefly Egyptian, and have long drooping ears
and Roman noses, for example, Angora, Cashmere and
Maltese.
While the market for goat meat in Britain has not yet
assumed much importance, in France, there are now
some 121 000 goat farmers. Many of these have devel-
oped broiler goat units in which 3-7-day-old kids are
reared on high-vitamin milk powder to a live weight of
10 kg at 1 month of age, when they are slaughtered. The
average carcase dead weight is 6.3 kg. The carcases are
split and the meat is exported, mainly to Italy, skins being
utilised for shoemaking.
under the most modern systems of management. The
major part of the poultry industry consists of domestic
fowls, but turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl are also
reared, turkeys being especially common in the United
States and Britain. While it is still not unusual for meat
and egg production to go hand in hand on small enter-
prises, they are mostly separate activities with the larger
concerns. Indeed, the early 1950s saw the commence-
ment of the broiler industry, which in the United
Kingdom now has an annual production of 820 million
broilers and combines in most instances breeding,
hatching, rearing, slaughter, processing, packing and
marketing; efficiency and competition are the moti-
vating forces. This operation is said to be 'vertically
integrated.
The rapid trend towards larger enterprises is exempli-
fied by the broiler industry in the United Kingdom,
where some 75% of the whole industry is controlled by
six companies. While in the early years only a few hun-
dred birds were reared on one holding, nowadays, it is
not uncommon for 1 million birds to be housed on a
single poultry farm, as many as 40 000 birds being kept
in one house. In the United Kingdom, house size gener-
ally varies from 12 000 to 35 000 birds, and there may be
1-10 houses on each individual site rather than in huge
integrated units, this trend being dictated by disease
control and welfare considerations.
Concentrated efforts have been put into the breeding
of poultry for both egg and meat production, not only to
enhance productivity but also to control disease, which
could be devastating to the industry. Instead of pure
breeds, commercial poultry are now represented by
hybrids.
Poultry meat production in the United Kingdom is
provided in the main by broilers, turkeys and ducks,
together with geese, poussins and end-of-lay hens,
guinea fowl and some game species such as grouse, par-
tridges, pheasants and quail. Ostrich farming for meat
production and leather is a significant enterprise in
South Africa.
Poultry
The main poultry-producing regions of the world
include the following (in 1000 metric tonnes ready to
cook equivalent, 2011): the United States, 17.11; China,
12.08; Brazil, 11; Mexico, 7.7; Russia, 2.9; India, 2.2;
Turkey, 1.6; and the United Kingdom, 1.3 (FAOSTAT).
It is probably true to say that no other farm enter-
prise is as widespread throughout the world as is that of
poultry farming. Certainly, no other farming activity
has made such vast strides in recent years as the pro-
duction of meat and eggs for table use. In many coun-
tries, it is regarded as the most important sector of the
agricultural industry. While many farmers keep a few
poultry for their own use to provide meat and eggs,
the other extreme is represented by large commercial
organisations in which thousands of birds are kept
Definitions
Broilers
Slaughtered normally at around 42 days at live weight
of about 2.3 kg. Food conversion rate is 1.75:1 with a
kill-out of 69%. Broilers are housed in environmentally
controlled buildings.
Poussins
Young birds, 23-28 days old, with an average live weight
of 0.5 kg. Oven-ready, they weigh 0.25-5 kg. Poussins are
mainly sold to the retail trade.
