What is a rural poultry ?

Rural poultry is highly diverse in nature and varies according to the country:

Family poultry, young stock sold alive directly or at markets, poultry sold with national quality certification, under PGI or PDO, or reared organically, free range poultry produced by organised outlets, etc.

What is common to all of these types of rural poultry is that they are reared extensively in accordance with animal welfare and are from coloured rustic breeds with slow rates of growth. They concern two distinct sectors of production: poultry for meat and laying hens for eggs.

Rural poultry farmers may be organised in groups or remain independent, but they have the common characteristic of obtaining their chicks from breeders offering rustic breeds that are specifically suited to this type of rearing.

These forms of production involve a significant number of different stakeholders: breeders, hatchers, the rearers of young birds, producers, retailers and distributors.