Poultry rearing in Poplar and Willow plots – a great example of Agroforestry
Do you know you can grow poplar and willow in conjunction with organic free range poultry? This is a perfect agroforestry integration with the following benefits:
Chicken welfare
- The trees provide shelter and safety
- Chickens are more likely to roam which is really good for their welfare and stress levels
- When in the safety of a woodland or energy crop setting they are less likely to injure themselves by feather pecking and there are lower levels of premature hen mortality
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Tree growth
- The foraging of chickens keep the weed levels down
- The faeces produced by the chickens is high in nitrogen and this provides nutrition to the woodland or energy crop improving wood production yields
For the egg producer
- Less stressed birds that are free to roam have increased shell quality and there is less chance of eggs breaking during collection and transit
- It is estimated that the proportion of Grade A eggs is increased by 2% when chickens are free to roam in woody cover
- Trees can intercept ammonia emissions from chicken sheds meaning that there is less chance of complaints from neighbours.
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Interested in planting in 2020? See our price list for poplar and willow by clicking these links.
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There are more great ideas for Agroforestry – the integration of food production and silvaculture in the Agroforestry Handbook published by the Soil Association. Download a free copy here.