Switzerland: Demeter without killing chicks

At the annual general meeting of the Swiss Association for Bio-dynamic Agriculture the decision was taken to incorporate the  «Hahn im Glück» - happy chicken - project guidelines into the Demeter agriculture guidelines.

All Demeter chickens have a right to life: by amending the guidelines for poultry keeping, from 1.1. 2019 all Swiss  Demeter eggs will come from a hen whose  “brother” was allowed to live and be  reared. The chickens are fattened and eventually slaughtered and sold as young chicken meat.

The Demeter association states that animal welfare and respect for life belong to the principles of bio-dynamic agriculture. The association focuses on species-appropriate animal keeping, with as much feed as possible from within the country and the greatest possible animal welfare on family farms. It says the next step is breeding Demeter laying hens with a balanced combination of egg laying and meat production.

Bioaktuell.ch reports that “Hahn im Glück” eggs and young chicken meat  (www.hahnimglueck.ch) have been on the market since last year and are very popular with consumers.