Organic Poultry Production

Anatomy and Physiology – General animal husbandry – Nutrition

The teaching methodologies are designed to stimulate student participation and active learning, namely through guided research. The theoretical components are exposed using powerpoint, board and articles reading. The practice includes several tasks at the ESAC pedagogical poultry house – weighing, recording, evaluating productivity and welfare scores. Research or, preferably, project, on organic poultry production. Also, the realization of visits to business production units.

The student must be able to manage, plan and design a production unit in MPB taking into account key aspects: a high health status, housing and management conditions in accordance with their natural behaviour, minimising the use of medication and producing safe and quality food, following the specific legislation for organic production. It must also know how to reduce in puts on the farm and take into account the diversity and environmental constraints.

Recognize the market concept of organic poultry products. To know the anatomy and physiology of poultry with special focus on the application aspects. The Portuguese poultry breeds and the most used strains adapted to free range systems. Birds’ basic needs. Behaviour and welfare; bird welfare evaluation: productive, behavioural and physiological. Scoring of plumage condition and pecking/cannibalism wounds. Legal requirements concerning environment, poultry slaughter, meat and egg marketing. Feeding, health and biosecurity. Management and housing. Technical, sanitary and medicated records, in accordance with the regulations in force.

Module 1: 65% : Poultry market; main technical aspects, welfare, management, housing,
poultry in MPB; health, biosecurity and sanitary registers: one theoretical written test (50%) and two assignments (50%).

Module 2: 35%: Integrative knowledge project: project with research work on poultry production poultry organically reared, with presentation and discussion (100%).

A student passes when they have fulfilled the minimum class attendance requirement (75%), obtained a weighted average marks in the modules equal to or higher than 9.5 (on a scale of 0 to 20) and a mark in each of the modules equal to or higher than 7.5 points.

In each academic year, a student who fails the continuous assessment period has access to assessment by final examination. Written/oral examination, structured by modules, as indicated in the continuous assessment. The same percentage weighting is applied to each module as shown in the modular organisation of continuous assessment, with the project (module 2) being part of the assessment in any of the periods (regular, appeal and special).

NAO