BREED

• Be born or hatched on production units conforming to this standard
• Have been the offspring of parents raised under the conditions specified in this standard

Be raised under this system throughout their life except as follows:-

• Poultry used for edible poultry products shall have been from poultry that have been under continuous organic management, beginning no later that the second day of life
• Birds shall not have been given medication other than antibiotic-free vaccines.
• Animals used for milk production shall have been under continuous organic management, for at least one year before the milk can be sold, labeled or represented as organic.
• Animals used for meat shall have been under continuous organic management, from the beginning of the last third of the gestation period (of the dam).

Animals purchased for breeding shall be from organic enterprises.

All livestock or edible livestock products that are removed from an organic enterprise and subsequently managed on a non-organic enterprise shall not be sold, labeled, or marketed as organically produced.

Artificial insemination is permitted.

FEED

FOR LIVESTOCK

• The operator shall provide livestock with an organic feed ration balanced to meet their nutritional requirements.
• During an emergency (such as unforeseen severe events or extreme climatic conditions), an exception to this specification may be allowed so that the livestock are provided a balanced diet.
• The maximum percentage of allowable non-organic feed and any conditions relating to this exception shall be set by the certification body.

The operator of an organic operation shall not provide organic livestock with:

• Feed and feed additives, including amino acids and feed supplements that contain substances not in accordance with the standard.
• Feed medications or veterinary drugs, including hormones and prophylactic antibiotics, to promote growth
• Approved feed supplements or additives used in amounts above those required for adequate nutrition and health maintenance for the species at its specific stage of life
• Feeds chemically extracted or defatted with prohibited substances
• Mammalian or avian slaughter by-products
• Synthetic preservation and coloring agents
• Silage preservation products
• Synthetic appetite-enhancers or synthetic flavor-enhancers
• Feed formulas containing manure or other animal waste

The operator shall not use reproductive hormones to trigger and synchronize estrus.

The operator of an organic livestock operation shall not administer:-

• Veterinary drugs, other than vaccinations, in the absence of illness, with the exception of anaesthetics used in permitted surgical procedures
• Synthetic compounds to stimulate or retard growth or production, including hormones for growth promotion
• Synthetic parasiticides to meat animals
• Veterinary drugs in violation of regulations
• Antibiotics to meat animals