Poultry Farming
Poultry Farming Certification
About the certification
Friend of the Earth poultry farming certification assesses how poultry products are produced, handled and identified. It brings together environmental and social criteria with specific controls for housing, outdoor access, feeding and veterinary care.
Certification applies to the products, sites and activities included in the approved scope. Buyers can check the certification record to confirm which products and production activities are covered.
What can be certified
Poultry products, including eggs and meat, can be assessed within a defined production scope. The checklist addresses chickens, laying hens, guinea fowl, ducks, capons, geese and turkeys. Individual operators and farmers’ cooperatives can apply.
Your application should identify the species and breeds, farm sites, finished products and brands. Describe the activities to be assessed, such as incubation, rearing, slaughter, processing, distribution, direct sale and feed production. The certification team will confirm the applicable assessment arrangements.
What the standard covers
Operators maintain documented policies, procedures and records, with a designated person overseeing their implementation. Checks cover record retention, staff training, emergency arrangements and equipment maintenance. Life cycle assessment is a recommendation.
Operators provide evidence of conformity with applicable environmental legislation and the relevant health identification. Authorisations and supporting records are reviewed during the audit.
Checks cover natural habitats, conservation areas and the effects of farm activities on ecosystems. Previous ecosystem destruction must be documented and addressed through mitigation where applicable. Measures also cover habitat connections, waterways, erosion and agricultural runoff.
Operators protect threatened species and habitats, including areas used by migrating wildlife. Hunting, capture and wildlife trade are prohibited unless specifically authorised; authorised activities must exclude endangered species. An annual wildlife and flora inventory is recommended.
Chemicals, fuels, oils and other hazardous substances are handled to prevent contamination and harm to people. Their purchase, storage, transport, use and disposal follow applicable legislation, with storage facilities available for inspection.
Feed must be entirely plant-based, free from animal fats and genetically modified material, with any colourants of vegetable origin. Purchasing Friend of the Earth certified feed is recommended. Operators producing feed themselves must meet the applicable agricultural criteria, including cultivation records, crop rotation and controls on agrochemicals.
Where feed is produced, checks cover soil type, cover, organic matter, nutrients, erosion and degradation. Operators set conservation objectives, evaluate results annually and adjust their practices. Recording soil biological activity is recommended.
Checks cover water sources, annual water analysis, well protection and abstraction permissions. Wastewater must meet applicable discharge limits and avoid degrading receiving waters. The checklist provides minimum limits where legislation does not specify them. Rainwater collection is recommended.
Operators identify sources of greenhouse gases, dust and particulates and establish reduction objectives and measures. Where feed is produced, controls also address pesticide drift. Ozone-depleting substances are excluded.
Organic and inorganic wastes are separated, with suitable materials reused, recycled or composted. Storage must prevent dispersion and runoff. Operators document disposal arrangements and provide supporting evidence for externally sourced materials used as fertiliser.
Operators calculate annual energy use, including purchased energy, on-site generation, transport and farm machinery. They set reduction objectives and assess progress. Checks also cover the commitment to renewable energy and the checklist’s prescribed credit purchases where supply is not entirely renewable.
Checks cover child-labour rules, wages at least equal to the legal minimum, access to healthcare and workplace safety. Employment documents and conditions observed on site support the assessment.
Local or adapted breeds with medium or slow growth are recommended. Male chicks must not be killed shortly after hatching; the checklist requires rearing for meat and slaughter after 81 days. Transfers to third-party rearers require contracts and conformity with the applicable welfare and certification criteria.
Birds must not be kept in cages. Checks cover littered solid flooring, suitable perches, manure collection and limits on birds per shelter. Lighting must allow at least eight continuous hours of rest each day. Waterfowl need access to water when climatic and hygiene conditions permit. Minimum slaughter ages apply where slow-growing types are not used, subject to the checklist’s breed and farming-system provisions.
Outdoor areas must be predominantly vegetated, provide protection and offer access to sufficient drinking facilities. Birds have outdoor access for at least one third of their lives. Where legal restrictions require indoor housing, roughage and materials meeting behavioural needs must remain available; the auditor reviews the applicable welfare arrangements.
Checks cover stocking density and the limit on nitrogen loading per hectare. Poultry manure is used as fertiliser, for compost production or for biogas. The checklist provides for adjustment of the stocking-density criterion when manure is used as fertiliser.
Castration is prohibited. Beak trimming is prohibited except where necessary, when the checklist permits laser treatment within the first ten days of life. Loading and unloading must not use electric stimulation, and allopathic tranquillisers are prohibited before and during transport.
Daily rations include dry or ensiled roughage and green fodder and are recorded for review. Conditions and diets that cause anaemia are prohibited, as is force-feeding. Fattening practices must be reversible throughout rearing.
Preventive use of antibiotics and chemically synthesised allopathic medicines is prohibited, as are substances used to stimulate growth or production and hormones used to control reproduction. Sick or injured birds receive prompt care. Necessary treatment is allowed under veterinary responsibility, subject to treatment limits and withdrawal periods twice those stated in the medicine leaflet. Checks also cover cleaning, disinfection and rest periods between flocks where applicable.
Primary egg packaging must be made from recyclable material. Checks cover product and batch identification, accompanying documents, transport, receipt and storage. Certified products are kept separate from non-certified products, with cleaning and handling records supporting their identification.
Traceability from farm to product
Product identity must be maintained through collection, storage, transport and delivery. Operators keep batch information, supplier and carrier details, quantities dispatched and received, and records of checks on incoming products. Packaging information and accompanying documents must correspond.
The traceability assessment also covers separation from non-certified products, staff training, annual checks of the system and recall or withdrawal procedures. Certification of a farm or supplier does not automatically authorise every finished product to carry the label.
Independent certification
An independent certification body assesses the relevant sites, activities and supporting evidence. Audit findings and any corrective actions are reviewed before the certification decision. Recommendations are recorded separately from compulsory criteria.
For farmers’ cooperatives, the poultry checklist specifies annual checks using a verified, homogeneous sample of member farms. Contact our team to confirm the arrangements for your proposed scope.
How certification works
1 Apply: Submit the Preliminary Information Form, identifying the poultry products, species, breeds, sites and activities you want assessed.
2 Confirm scope and costs: Review the proposed scope, agreement and certification body’s audit quotation before proceeding.
3 Independent audit: Provide site access and the production, feeding, veterinary, housing and traceability records needed for the assessment, alongside environmental and employment evidence.
4 Address findings: Complete the required corrections or corrective-action plan and provide supporting evidence within the applicable deadlines.
5 Certification decision: The certification body reviews the assessment and decides whether certification can be issued for the proposed products and scope.
6 Maintain certification: Continue meeting the applicable criteria, keep records and complete the required follow-up assessments. Use of the logo remains subject to authorisation and the usage rules.
Certification fees
Annual royalties depend on the applicant’s category, revenue band and products or species covered. The published price list applies to new contracts. Audit costs are separate and quoted by the certification body. VAT is additional where applicable. Submit your proposed scope so we can confirm the applicable fees and arrange an audit quotation.
Standards and supporting documents
Check certification status
Use the Friend of the Earth ID to find the certification record. Check the product or species, certificate holder, scope, status and validity dates. A company name in the directory does not mean that all its products are certified.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The poultry checklist addresses egg production and poultry rearing for meat. Your application must identify the proposed products, species, sites and production activities so the assessment scope can be confirmed.
Certification covers the products, sites and activities listed in the approved scope. Other products sold by the same business are not automatically covered.
Yes. The checklist allows cooperative applications and specifies annual checks using a verified sample of member farms.
Purchasing certified feed is a recommendation rather than a compulsory condition. Feed composition rules still apply, and operators producing their own feed must meet the applicable agricultural criteria.
Cages are prohibited. The checklist specifies outdoor access for at least one third of the birds’ lives and includes provisions for indoor housing required by legal restrictions. Contact the certification team to confirm how these provisions apply to your system.
No. Preventive antibiotic use is prohibited, but necessary treatment to avoid suffering is allowed under veterinary responsibility. Treatment limits, records and extended withdrawal periods apply. Certification alone does not justify an antibiotic-free claim.
The checklist prohibits killing male chicks shortly after hatching and requires rearing them for meat, with slaughter after 81 days. Where rearing is transferred to a third party, contractual and welfare controls apply.
Supplier certification alone does not approve a finished product or transfer label-use rights. The product’s scope, traceability and authorisation must be confirmed before the label is used.
Check the issue and expiry dates and current status in the certification record. The certification body will confirm the follow-up assessment arrangements for your scope.
Apply for poultry farming certification
Tell us which poultry products you want assessed, where they are produced and how the birds are housed, fed and cared for. Include the relevant processing, packing and distribution activities so we can confirm the appropriate scope and next steps.
The Preliminary Information Form is confidential and does not commit you to proceeding with an audit.
