Another world’s first for farming and agriculture in the Netherlands; this time it's a CO2-neutral chicken farm with 24.000 chickens in Castenray in the province of Limburg.
Kipster is an initiative by Styn Claessens, Ruud Zanders, Maurits Groen and Olivier Wegloop. Together with specialists, Kipster has been under development for more than four years.
In order to achieve CO2-neutrality, specific choices have been made regarding the farm itself and the chickens that will inhabit it. White chickens will take up residence on the farm; this type of chicken is lighter in terms of weight and eats less, thus saving on the amount of feed necessary to rear the chickens.
Contributing to the eco-friendly character of the farm, the feed given to the chickens is made from agricultural farming waste products, which would otherwise not be used for human consumption.
The farm features 1.097 solar panels, which will generate more energy than the farm uses. Around 60 percent of the generated solar energy will be sold. Fossil fuels are not used and emission of particulate matter will be limited to an absolute minimum through the use of advanced technology that filters the air leaving the barn.
Chickens are the inspiration for this farm, as it has been designed according to their needs, and the Dutch animal protection agency, Dierenbescherming, was involved during its development.
Chickens like sunlight and are actually forest animals. To accommodate for this, the farm design includes an indoor garden with a glass roof and trees and tree trunks where the chickens can play. The chickens can experience fresh air from outside, inside the farm, but if it is nice weather they can also venture outside and choose from two spaces to roam.
The eggs laid at the Kipster farm will receive the highest certification possible - three stars. This is due to the quality of life that the chickens have at the farm and the measures taken to ensure that the eggs produced are environmentally friendly.
The Lidl has signed a deal with Kipster and will sell their eggs exclusively for the next five years. The sale of the eggs starts on October 26, and they will be slightly more expensive than the free-range eggs you usually see in the supermarket.
The Lidl will also sell burgers made from Kipster rooster meat. Usually, roosters are killed at birth, and in the Netherlands, this happens to more than 40 million roosters each year. The rooster burgers, however, will not receive a Beter Leven certification, as they will be raised in a different barn.