[This was published in the May/June 2020 APPPA Grit newsletter, a trade publication of the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, and relies on contextual understandings of pastured poultry farmers]. As processing plants close and big chicken destroys barns full of birds, CAFO chickens have been in the news a lot over the course of the […]
Category Archives: Pastured Chicken
The most influential factors to build flavor into your chicken dinner is age and diet. Simply put, the older the chicken, the more flavor it has. The more diverse the diet, the more flavor it has. “It tastes like chicken,” has become the default answer people give when they try to describe what another, less […]
26
Feb
Feb
There’s nothing wrong with frozen chicken. There, I said it. Let the lightning strike me down. In recent years, we’ve made the decision to supply all our chicken frozen, and it has been one of the best decisions we made with regard to our current production and distribution model. We realize, however, that many among […]
Today is the day, folks! The first day we’ve put eggs into the new incubator. Let the countdown begin… So, I’m not at all confident that they will all hatch. Some of the eggs laid out in the nest boxes in the cold barn longer than they probably should have, but we are simply too […]
By purchasing a share in our chicken club, you guarantee that you will have local, pasture-raised chicken grown for you in six monthly installments starting in May. This is a lot like a vegetable CSA where you buy a share of the weekly harvest at the beginning of the season, only we’re selling chicken. In […]
People who buy local farm-raised chicken do so for many reasons. A big reason is that most small farmers raise chickens on antibiotic free feed. There is enough suspicion and caution to be had regarding the constant feeding of antibiotics to broiler chickens as a growth stimulant and not as a disease treatment. Here is […]
18
Jun
Jun
There’s nothing like chasing a spry pasture-raised broiler to make you look and feel silly. These 3 week old cornish cross broilers defy the fat, lethargic, sickly stereotype. It’s the sunshine, grass, and fresh forage that keeps them running.
I just moved these hens into a fresh pasture. As you can see, they’re eager to get out of the eggmobile and into the grass.
That’s an easy one, right? Chickens on pasture eat grass and insects. That’s inline with their omnivore tendencies. But the grass, seeds, and insects that the chickens eat out on pasture is really only a supplement. It provides lots of natural forage and contributes to the exceptional taste and health of the chicken and its […]
23
Mar
Mar
Local, pasture-based egg producers often cite a Mother Earth News study to underscore their superior egg quality when compared to conventionally raised eggs. So, here is that study. Our [Mother Earth News] testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture […]