Part
4 - Inside a poultry megafarm
Richard
Williams invited the Bureau to Penhros Farm near the picturesque
village of Kington, Herefordshire, where he has four sheds each
housing 42,000 chickens. From this farm he produces nearly 1.3
million chickens a year for the giant food company Cargill, which
supplies Tesco.
Inside, the
sweet sickly odour is overpowering. You can’t see the floor for
chickens. The sheds have some hay bales and wooden perches.
“They’ve
got enrichment,” Williams says. “Windows so they get
daylight and fresh air… Is this cruel? I don’t think so”.
The chickens
are bred to grow quickly, provide a good yield of meat, eat little
feed and be disease-resistant. They are trucked in as chicks. Each
batch of chickens is called a “crop” and he has about eight crops
a year, cleaning the sheds in between each one.
The farm is
slick - a computer-controlled environment optimized to produce safe,
cheap meat. The birds are fed on pellets provided by Cargill, which
contain soya, minerals and additives, mixed with locally grown wheat.
They drink chlorinated water.
Williams
says he hasn’t used a single antibiotic since the site was set up
two years ago. Instead, he uses a product which changes the birds’
gut flora. “it’s like Yakult, lets the good bacteria grow and
stops the bad bacteria growing.”
The farm is
environmentally friendly, says Williams. The sheds are heated by a
biomass boiler fueled by recycled timber waste. The hatchery, feed
mill, and factory, all owned by Cargill, are within 15 miles. “Tell
me that isn’t a good carbon footprint.”
Responding
to complaints from neighbours, Williams says the farm keeps local
people in work, like the truck drivers who deliver chicks, feed and
shavings. His customer, Cargill, is one of the biggest employers in
Herefordshire.
Ultimately
he thinks this is the most efficient way to produce protein – and
that the market shows consumers in their droves choose it over
organic meat. “This is producing safe, cheap, available
protein,” he says. “Is it any more complicated than that?"
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