Feed and water free range birds indoors where possible to reduce mixing between your birds and wild birds. If you have free range birds you should plan how you will manage them if there is a need to isolate them from wild birds. Keep accurate and up-to-date records to ensure that your produce is fully traceable. If you have other people looking after your birds, give them the information and training they need to maintain strict standards of hygiene and biosecurity at all times.

Do not bring infection from a farm on your clothes, footwear or hands. Clean and disinfect vehicles after visiting a farm. Limit and control access to poultry flocks. Have pressure washers, brushes, hoses, water and an approved disinfectant available. Regularly clean and disinfect all crates, containers and other equipment before and after use. Minimise contact between poultry and wild birds. Prevent accumulation of standing water and remove spilled feed that could attract wild birds. Maintain buildings to ensure that wild birds do not nest or roost in them. Keep wild birds, dogs, cats, rodents or other livestock out of poultry buildings and feed stores. Have an active rodent and pest control system in place. Be vigilant for evidence of vermin. Monitor vermin activity by baiting and trapping. Supply only clean fresh drinking water to birds. Water lines and drinkers must be flushed through and cleaned regularly. Feed bins, hoppers and feeding equipment must be cleaned and maintained regularly. Feed silos and containers must be sealed to prevent animals and wild birds contaminating feed. Feed should only be obtained from a supplier that operates in accordance with relevant Defra Codes of Practice. Damaged eggs, dead birds, litter and manure may carry disease. Dispose them promptly and properly. Disinfect the coup and all equipment (including ducting, drains, etc.) and carry out rodent and other pest control. Cleaning equipment and protective clothing should also be cleaned and disinfected.

Be vigilant! Look out for signs of disease in your flock. Increased mortality, falling egg production and respiratory distress may be early signs of a disease problem. If you suspect disease, ask your veterinarian for advice as soon as possible. Some diseases can spread very quickly! Avian influenza and Newcastle Disease are notifiable diseases. Always practice good biosecurity. You have a lot to gain if you do and much to lose if you don't.

Positive signs of health are bright eyes, red comb, dry nostrils, shiny feathers (with most of them there), good weight, clean feathers under the tail, and an alert and active manner. Lack of feathers could be due to the annual moult (late summer/autumn) on any part of the body. Missing feathers on the tail could be due to other hens pulling them out due to mineral deficiency or stress. Lack of feathers on the neck sides may be due to the other hens or the de-pluming mite. Broken and/or missing feathers on the back of the neck and back of the females may be due to over/vigorous attention from the male bird.

Hold the bird so that it is balanced by resting its weight on your left forearm, its head under your left arm, its legs held between the fingers of your left hand with its tail pointed away from you. This leaves your right hand free to inspect the bird for positive signs of health, and lice or mites.

Bird flu or avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds ranging from mild to severe form of illness. All birds are thought to be susceptible to bird flu, though some species are more resistant to infection than others. Some forms of bird flu can cause illness to humans.

Shell-less eggs are held together by the membranes alone. This may be related to a lack of calcium or vitamin D. Hens synthesize vitamin D from sunlight so this will not be a problem if they are free-range. Eggshells require a lot of calcium. A feeder full of ground oystershells can provide the calcium they need.

Yes, A’Saffa products are free of melamine. A’Saffa poultry feed does not contain any wheat gluten, corn gluten, or concentrated rice. A’Saffa poultry feed contains only protein ingredients.

Our poultry is natural, containing no added hormones or steroids, artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring, chemical preservatives or any other synthetic ingredient. It's always handled without any fundamental alterations or exposure to radiation. It's all part of our effort to give you the most natural products possible.

Yes, A’Saffa poultry is always 100% natural and we never add hormones or steroids of any kind.

No, we don’t inject any kind of water or liquid to increase the weight of the chicken.

No, we do not expose our chicken to radiation (also known as irradiation) for the purpose of killing bacteria during processing.

It doesn't get any fresher. A’Saffa fresh poultry products are never stored below 26° F, so they're always delivered to your grocer fresh. And because we grow and process all of our poultry locally, you can always count on the freshness of our products.

Because they eat a nutritious diet high in corn. Our chickens have yellow skin pigmentation due to the amount of xanthophyll that yellow corn naturally provides.

This means that our poultry is handled only as is necessary to clean it and make it ready for you to cook. The processing does not fundamentally alter the raw poultry. It's all part of our efforts to give you the most natural product that we can.