If you ask someone why a chicken needs to grow, the answer will probably come almost instinctively: corn and water. It’s no surprise, given that for years, marketing messages on packaging and in advertisements have made an ingredient found in the diet of all chickens almost the only criterion by which consumers judge how a chicken is raised. In reality, experts view things differently; reality is much more complex.
In TRANSAVIA there is an expression that summarizes almost everything that matters: race – house – table. In other words, the genetic potential of the bird, the environment in which it lives, and the food it receives must all work together. If one of these three elements is missing or is unbalanced, the other two cannot compensate.
It all starts even before the chicks arrive at the breeding farm: the breed. It represents the genetic baggage with which each chick sets out on its journey and which determines the potential of a bird: the rate of development, robustness, and the ability to effectively utilize food. But, like a talented athlete, potential is not enough. Without the appropriate conditions for growth and without a balanced diet, even the best genetics cannot reach its potential. It can only be achieved if the breeding environment and feeding are adapted to the needs of the bird from the very first day of life.
At TRANSAVIA, before the day-old chicks arrive at the rearing farms, the halls are prepared: they are cleaned, disinfected and new bedding is laid, and the temperature, light, ventilation and humidity are adjusted for their age. Practically, on the first day of life, the chicks do not adapt to the farm; the farm has already adapted to them. Then a process begins that consumers never notice. It is not spectacular or noisy. It is a succession of thousands of almost invisible checks and adjustments. The automated systems constantly monitor temperature, air quality, ventilation and access to water and feed, while the farm staff daily walks through the halls to observe what no sensor can fully interpret: the behavior of birds. A calf that moves naturally, rests, eats, and explores its environment naturally transmits information that is just as valuable as the numbers displayed on a monitor. That is why in modern farms, well-being is evaluated not only by technical parameters but also by the way the animals behave.
And the feed must be adapted to the stage of development of the chicks. Veterinarian nutritionists formulate the feed recipes for each growth stage so that the birds’ body receives exactly the nutrients it needs at that moment to grow harmoniously. Just as in the growth environment, there is no single solution that is valid for the entire life of the bird; rather, it is a program that evolves with it. Therefore, feed is only one of the parts of a much more complex mechanism. Moreover, modern welfare standards, such as GLOBAL S.L.P., do not only evaluate the feeding, but the entire farm ecosystem: the conditions of growth, the health of the animals, the training of the people, biosecurity, and how each decision contributes to the well-being of the birds. In 2024, TRANSAVIA became the first poultry meat producer in Romania whose growing farms obtained this prestigious certification.
At first glance, the rearing farms seem like a simple shelter. In reality, it is the place where race, home and table They must remain in balance day after day. And when this balance is maintained, well-being is no longer a concept or a certification; it becomes a reality lived every day by every child.
