The orthodox medicines predominantly used in conventional farming tend to treat the symptoms rather than the causes of diseases. In organic farming, on the other hand, we prioritise preventive measures that prevent animals from becoming ill in the first place.

Nevertheless, even organic animals become ill from time to time. When this happens, organic farmers must first try  natural remedies such as medicinal herbs, homoeopathy and acupuncture.

There are very strict requirements when it comes to using antibiotics and other common medicines on organic animals:

• Antibiotics may not be used preventively.
• The number of possible doses of antibiotic medicine is limited (maximum of one dose for animals that live up to one year old and maximum of three doses for animals that live over one year old (except for vaccines and anti-parasite medicines)).
• If antibiotics are used, the animal may only be sold after two times the statutory waiting period.
• If an organic animal is treated with antibiotics more than once in a year, its produce can no longer be sold as organic or Naturland-certified. Animals that live for over a year may be treated a maximum of three times. These animals then have to be re-converted to organic.

As a consequence, organic farmers only use antibiotics when they have exhausted all other options.

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For many organic farms, keeping livestock plays a key role in maintaining good soil fertility and a closed material cycle. Alongside humus, and nitrogen-fixing legumes, manure is one of the only sources of nitrogen at an organic farmer's disposal.

The use of artificial nitrogen fertilisers is prohibited in organic farming. Unlike in the agro-industrial sector, as long as the quantity of manure being produced is balanced with the nutrient requirements of a farm's crops, manure is not seen as a foul-smelling waste disposal problem. By farming livestock in proportion to their available land, organic farmers ensure a balance is achieved, rendering the notion of organic factory farming infeasible.

Meat, eggs and milk all play a crucial role in our modern diets. They provide us with high-quality proteins and vital minerals, not to mention unique flavours. The average German citizen consumes over 60 kg of meat, 214 eggs and around 100 litres of milk (products) per year. Consuming such large quantities of mass-produced, animal-based foods from conventional farms causes a whole range of issues.

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For centuries, livestock species have been bred with the sole aim of developing high-performance breeds that are geared towards delivering maximum yields. This approach has resulted in breeds of laying hens that often produce over 300 eggs per year and dairy cows with milk yields of 10,000 litres per year. In the process, however, their "brother" chicks and calves have been largely ignored because males do not produce eggs or milk. What's more, these animals are not worth fattening because they produce significantly less meat than their purpose-bred counterparts, namely broilers and beef cattle. Given they have no agricultural value, in the past the males have simply been "disposed of". As such, it's still standard practice today for male chicks to be sent to slaughter immediately after hatching and for male calves from dairy cattle to end up being shipped off to foreign destinations thousands of miles away. In pig farming, although both sexes have always been raised for fattening, there is still controversy surrounding the male animals when it comes to castration among male piglets.

Since organic farms mainly use high-performance breeds in order to remain commercially viable, and because they lack alternatives, they too are part of this controversial system. Nevertheless, they are not willing to give up that easily – which is why for years now they have been searching for solutions to give some value back to "brother" chicks and calves.

Increasing awareness among consumers provides additional impetus. Whereas in the past there was very little awareness of the topic, consumers are now becoming increasingly critical when choosing and buying animal products. And one thing is for sure: if consumers are not on board, it's a lost cause. Consumers who regularly eat organic eggs and drink organic milk, and who think organic farms should raise their male chicks and calves, should also buy organic meat from brother roosters and calves from time to time.

What we stand for

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We simply cannot and will not continue with this approach, which is why we have launched our "Let brother chicks live" initiative. In future, all the brother chicks of Naturland laying hens must be allowed to grow into adults just like their sisters. This will allow us to solve two problems in the poultry sector at once: it will prevent chicks from being culled and ensure the economic viability of raising brother roosters.

After all, they may not put on as much meat as broilers, but we believe they do have the same right to a decent life as livestock. Our organic brother roosters are predominantly kept in single-sex groups and raised with lots of compassion, access to the outdoors, space to scratch and organic feed to eat.

Naturland launched its "Ei care ("I care") campaign" back in 2011. It was one of the first ever anti-chick-culling initiatives. Numerous other initiatives and projects later, Naturland has now taken the decisive action to mandate raising organic brother chicks for all farms from 2022. The corresponding policy was adopted in June 2021 and great progress is already being made towards its implementation. This will enable our farmers to allow almost a million brother chicks each year to live a life of value.

In addition to raising brother chicks from pure laying breeds, Naturland is also working on developing so-called "dual-purpose" chickens. These breeds are designed for both purposes from the outset. The aim of the RegioHuhn project is to use six old regional breeds to create new dual-purpose chicken breeds that are suitable for real-world applications. This explanatory film by Naturland farmer Fabian Häde clearly demonstrates what sets dual-purpose chickens apart.

By buying our Naturland eggs, meat and processed poultry products such as minced and jointed meat, you can help us to create even more. As a consumer, your buying choices have a real influence on welfare-orientated, organic livestock farming. If you too would like to let brother chicks live, all you have to do is look for the brother chick label next to the Naturland logo next time you’re buying meat at a farm shop, health food shop or supermarket.

The market for organic milk is booming. However, not enough consumers realise that milk and meat go hand in hand. Without calves, organic dairy products would not exist, because cows only produce milk after giving birth to a calf. Fifty percent of those calves, however, are male, and rearing the so-called "brother calves" incurs significant costs for organic milk farmers. While female calves generally stay on the farm to replenish the herd, brother calves are sold and usually end up being fattened for meat. This practice is far from satisfactory for organic farms but there is a distinct lack of viable alternatives (as of yet). Rearing both genders for commercial gain leads to higher costs and would render the already low-margin enterprise of milk production unprofitable.

Organic farms would only be able to implement this approach if they were to charge higher end consumer prices for dairy produce and meat products from brother calves. The same problem is encountered when trying to find alternative solutions for calf rearing. It's currently common practice to separate calves from their mothers shortly after birth and to raise them separately.

Thankfully, consumer awareness of the calf issue in milk production is increasing and with it, their willingness to pay a premium for products that have been produced on farms that raise their calves with compassion. For organic dairy farming, this means a shift towards calf rearing and beef production practices that recognise the value of brother calves, as demonstrated by Naturland's Schwarzwald Bio-Weiderind initiative.

The number of organic farms and initiatives, such as Naturland's Hof Hellmig farm, that are working towards using cows to raise calves is constantly on the rise. Dairy farmers either raise the male calves themselves on the farm or look for a local partner farm with organic suckler cows that will take the brother calves on and sell them on afterwards.

This method of rearing also means that female calves can feed for longer with their mothers or a suckler cow, which is an added bonus for their welfare. Although only a few organic farms have trialled this approach so far, they are important flagship initiatives that show that this method works and encourage others to follow suit.

Humans have been aware of the diverse range of apiculture products, such as honey, wax, pollen, mead, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom and more recently even honey vinegar, for centuries. However, the economic benefit of bees is actually 10–15 times higher than the value of their honey products.

Bees are indispensable pollinators for fruit and many varieties of vegetables. 80% of harvests can be attributed to bee pollination – even self-pollinating plants produce 20% higher yields with the help of bees.

Beehives are made from natural materials such as wood and straw, and can only be cleaned and disinfected using physical means, such as hot water or flames. Using chemical products is prohibited. To eliminate impurities, the central walls have to be made from organic wax. Antibiotics and other chemotherapeutic medicines used to treat disease are also banned. For example, the varroa mite – the most common bee parasite – is controlled with organic acids. The most widely used acid is formic acid, which occurs naturally in food. Many organic beekeepers are also currently running trials with microorganisms, lactobacillus and yeasts to see if they can improve the resilience of their bee populations. So far the results have been promising.

Bee pastures must consist primarily of organically grown crops, wild flora or extensively farmed crops within a three-kilometre radius.

What we stand for

© Header Image "Bees": topo84/stock.adobe.de

Compared to livestock farming on land, we have very little knowledge or visibility of how fish and prawns live. As a result, the well-being of these creatures has been largely overlooked for many years, although we breed more fish and prawns than land animals. That’s why at Naturland we decided to include welfare standards for fish and prawns in our Standards for Organic Aquaculture, which were published back in 1996.

A core tenet of our policy is to strictly regulate their feed supply. Fish food must be species-appropriate and made from sustainably sourced ingredients. This way, aquaculture can play its part in alleviating the burden on maritime resources instead of exacerbating the problem of overfishing. As such, Naturland-certified feed contains fish oil and fish meal from excess sustainably caught or organically farmed fish that have been processed for human consumption.

Naturland farms operate under the mantra of “prevention is better than cure”. This means that fish and prawns are farmed as naturally as possible in order to prevent stress and disease. For example, Naturland stipulates a stocking density of 10 kg/m3 for salmon. This means the fish have twice as much room as they do in conventional establishments (up to 25 kg/m3). Not only is this beneficial for animal welfare, but also for the environment.

Our standards contain a wealth of different measures to safeguard animal welfare.

• Lower stocking densities minimise stress, reduce disease pressure and protect the environment.

• The feed we use guarantees that our fish receive the most species-appropriate diet from sustainable, organic sources.

• Our compulsory slaughter protocol regulates the catching, sorting, caging, stunning and slaughtering processes in detail, also with regard to animal welfare, and is regularly verified by Naturland.

• Only natural reproduction is allowed.

• Interfering with prawns’ eyestalks is prohibited.

• The animals are transported in line with strict animal welfare standards.

• They also undergo regular health checks.

• Bodies of water are created and managed naturally so that their ecological function is maintained.

• Wild animals are kept at bay with non-damaging methods wherever possible.

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The average German citizen eats approximately 18 kg of poultry per year. Only around one per cent of these 18 kg is produced organically. Just like for all other animals that are farmed organically, organic turkeys must have access to an outdoor run. It makes them hardier, strengthens their immune system and enables them to accumulate vitamin D.

Organic turkeys also enjoy some additional benefits:

• The poultry house must receive natural daylight so the birds can live according to their natural circadian rhythm.

• They have bedded scratching areas and perches or straw balls to encourage natural behaviour.

• The stocking density is limited to 21 kg of live weight per m² of floor space (equivalent of approx. 2 hens). This reduces the stress on the birds and keeps them healthier.

• Genetically modified feed, performance and growth stimulants and synthetic amino acids are all prohibited.

• The turkeys’ feed is 100% organically grown, i.e. no artificial fertilisers or chemical pesticides are used.

• If medicines are used to treat illness, the bird may only be slaughtered after twice the statutory waiting period.

• Raising chicks up to the age of six weeks requires a great deal of experience and intuition, and is often only done by specialist establishments. Young turkeys are sent to fattening farms from their seventh week onwards, once they are more robust. After approximately 20 weeks, at a live weight of 10–11 kg, the birds are ready for slaughter.

What we stand for