Adaptability Challenges for Organic Broiler Chickens: A Commentary

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Organic poultry shows an increasing productive trend, rising from 3% in 2017 to 8% in 2019. Regulation EU 848/2018 puts great emphasis on the ability of broilers to adapt to outdoor systems as being essential for organic production. Organic poultry operators meet with regulatory constraints, consumer concerns, and challenges in terms of nutrition, welfare, health, and sustainability. The present commentary considers recent studies on and innovations in these topics that can affect organic production in addition to recent studies on animal adaptability to this production system. It reflects on the concept of broiler adaptability to organic systems not only as a classic genotype–environment interaction but as a necessary prerequisite for facing these relevant challenges. ABSTRACT: As organic and conventional poultry production increased in the last decade, so did consumers’ concerns, sustainability requirements, and animal welfare as well as health issues. According to Reg. EU 848/2008 on organic production, poultry must be adapted to organic outdoor systems and cope with all the regulatory constraints in terms of nutrition, health, and welfare. Adaptability must take into account the above challenges, constraints, and concerns. Chicken adaptability should not only mean being able to use pasture and outdoor areas, but also mean being able to overcome, or be resilient to, the challenges of organic farming without compromising welfare, performance, and product quality. This commentary identifies solutions to the new challenges that organic poultry chains must face in future productive scenarios, detects consumer viewpoints to provide a perspective on organic poultry production, and summarizes as well as defines chicken adaptability to organic production, assessing the main factors of chicken adaptability.