Chicken

Terminology Matters

There is a lot of terminology and labeling going around in the poultry industry, such as "Free-range", "Organic", "Antibiotic-free", "Hormone-free" to mention a few.  The average consumer reads these labels and trusts that the industry is actually doing what they promote on their packaging.  It doesn't take much digging to find out that those labels are meaningless and are meant to fool people into thinking the animals are actually raised humanely. Below is some information on the terminology used by Confinement Animal Feed Operations (CAFO) and what it means:

•  Free-range birds only need "reasonable" access to the outside, this can be as simple as a small door on the side of the chicken house leading to a concrete pad outside.
• Organic chickens are fed an Organic diet but are raised in the same inhumane confinement chicken houses as birds fed a conventional diet.
• Antibiotic-Free only means that the antibiotic levels in the meat must meet a certain threshold when they are processed, they can still be pumped full of antibiotics up to three days before being processed.

Below is the methodology we practice on our farm:

• Pasture-based requires the chickens to be raised outside on pasture with unlimited access to fresh air, sunshine and an abundance of forage.

It is precisely for these reasons that we decided to implement the "Pasture-based" model for raising our birds.  Daily moves to fresh pasture is essential in maintaining the health of the bird as well as increasing pasture production through manure fertilization.  Our birds are fed a Non-GMO diet but also have access to all the grass, legumes, grasshoppers and insects they desire.  Our "Pasture-based" model promotes animal health, ecosystem health as well as consumer health.  This is why our chicken is better for the animal, better for the environment and better for you!