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Table of Contents
What is Pastured Poultry?Pastured chickens are raised outside in fresh air and sunshine on fresh green growing pasture, in small groups, protected by large bottomless pens which are moved daily onto new ground.
A bit of history... Long ago...in the days before there were refrigerators and freezers, most poultry was raised on pasture. Most farms raised a small backdoor or kitchen yard flock for eggs and meat. Production followed nature in that the birds hatched their young in the spring, raised them through summer into autumn and the excess was harvested and stored for winter or sold as a cash crop. Only a few young laying hens and a rooster or two were over wintered for the next year's cycle. This system was efficient enough for the birds to perpetuate themselves and there was extra enough to encourage some use of limited resources for their husbandry; but not much! A chicken dinner was cause for celebration. Around the turn of the last century things began to change. Steam, electric and combustion engine power came to the farm. Man power and horse power were replaced by machines and men moved to town. Birds began to be raised inside for year-round production, and men began to think in terms of "conquering" nature. On the farm, things got bigger and bigger. By the end of the twentieth century one man could grow not hundreds, or thousands, but tens or hundreds of thousands of confined birds with very little labor. Economies of scale allowed large fortunes to be made. Chickens made it into bologna, fast food restaurants and gas stations. But where
there were advances, there were also setbacks. Things had gotten bigger and
faster, but often not better. Living conditions inside crowded chicken houses
became marginal because the waste matter from so many birds was also being
concentrated. Ammonia caused respiratory problems and fecal dust coated
everything. All sorts of things were added to feed to try to overcome problems
caused by the unnatural conditions. Whole regions in which poultry operations
surrounded huge vertically integrated chicken factories began to smell. Once
beautiful byways became littered with feathers, and dangerously high levels of
nutrients began to show up in streams and ground water. Farmers no longer
controlled the birds they grew and lost touch with local markets. Meanwhile,
consumers understandably lost track of those who grew their food, since on
average, it had changed hands six times and traveled eighteen hundred miles
getting to them. Along the way, chicken became a commodity that lost not only
its identity but also its quality and flavor.
Why is Pastured Poultry better than commercial poultry?
Small natural
sized groupings, constant access to fresh, green growing pasture and
fresh
air and sunshine reduce stress on chickens allowing them to mature naturally. No
residue from pesticides, drugs or other chemicals is possible since none are
needed or ever used. All this, coupled with exercise and greens in the diet,
substantially increase the nutritional value of pasture poultry, particularly in
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and in Vitamin A, with a significant reduction of total fat
content. Best of all, these chickens have excellent texture and taste. Those who
say that anything without much flavor "tastes sort of like chicken" have
forgotten what real chicken is like.
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