The technical guide considers the difficulties around weaning piglets and shows what measures are necessary to prevent problems and to remedy them in acute cases.

There are strict guidelines and strategies for the Swiss organic sector to maintain animal health and reduce antibiotics. Veterinarians need to be made aware of these guidelines.

Education and further training for veterinarians to familiarise them with organic farming strategies.

Organic sheep producers are aware that worm control issues continue to pose a threat to their business. To a large extent, they still have to rely on dewormers to maintain the health and productivity of their animals.

For reasons of aspired naturalness and cost reduction, vitamin additions should be kept low in organic livestock systems. To define safe lower threshold levels of riboflavin supplementation in organic poultry feeding, 135 hybrid layers were allocated to three dietary treatments supplemented with either 4.5 (R4.5), 3.0 (R3.0) or 1.5 mg (R1.5) GMO-free riboflavin added per kg feed. This resulted in total measured concentration averages of 5.0, 4.5, and 3.1 mg kg−1 feed for R4.5, R3.0 and R1.5, respectively.

Data from breeder hens and chicks are particularly critical for the development of vitamin B2 recommendations for organic poultry. To test safe thresholds of supplementation, 100 breeder hens (Hubbard JA 57 K) and ten cockerels were allocated to ten housing groups, with each receiving supplementation of either 4.0 (treatment CON) or 2.5 mg (treatment RED) riboflavin per kg feed. After 15 weeks of experimental feeding, 256 eggs were incubated.

RELACS - Improving inputs for organic farming - Data from breeder hens and chicks are particularly critical for the development of vitamin B2 recommendations for organic poultry.

The brief has been produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in collaboration with the Global Dairy Platform (GDP) and the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) and with the financial support of the New Zealand Government.