Many farmers and consumers question whether health, safety and humane treatment of both farmer and animals have been compromised in these large operations.
A number of growers have chosen to raise their poultry using elements of traditional systems, combining outdoor movable shelters and utilizing range, to produce a high quality, farm-fresh, all natural product.
The pastured poultry movement has found great support among consumers for these high quality products. Producers continue to see a growing demand for pasture raised poultry and eggs.
Pastured Poultry is a production system that employs raising chickens directly on pasture. This model has been developed over the last twenty years and allows the birds to receive up to 20% of their feed intake from pasture forage which includes: grass, legumes, hay, bugs, worms, and grit. The birds are moved regularly to fresh pasture. This allows the birds to be raised in a cleaner, healthier environment.
Free-Range, Organic, Vegetarian-fed, Pastured ..all these terms..what is right for me?
Here's a quick break down of common terms used in more naturally raised poultry and eggs:
Organic: Chickens are fed only certified organic feed and have outside access. May or may not be processed organically. Check label.
Chemical-free: Chickens are raised on non-medicated feed. If ranged outside, the pasture is also free of all chemicals. May or may not range outside.
Vegetarian fed hens: Hens that are fed strictly vegetarian diet. These birds cannot go outside on pasture since foraging for "bugs" is not considered a vegetarian diet.
Cage-free: Chickens housed in large poultry barns with open floor.
"Free range" are free to range inside and have access to the outside, where they can range also. Poultry can "free-range" on sand, dirt or even concrete!
Pastured Poultry: Pastured poultry are housed and/or ranged on pasture, with grass, legumes and insects comprising a significant portion of their diet. They may or may not be organic. Check label.
Day Range Pastured Poultry: Chickens are free to range outside in large rotating fenced pasture during daytime and housed inside a permanent or semi-permanent coop at night, with an open floor (no cages).
Pasture Pens: Chickens are housed in outdoor moveable shelters. The pens have no floors, so the birds live right on the ground. The pens have covers at one end so the chickens have refuge from the hot sun or rain.
- For more information about Pastured Poultry, please take a look at:
American Pastured Poultry Association http://apppa.org
Day Range Layers
We use a Day Range pasture poultry model for our laying hens. "Day range" means that the chickens are fenced in rotating pastures and sleep and nest in a permanent or semi-permanent (moveable) structure. We rotate pastures regularly, to allow the pasture to recover and re-seed.
We fence our chickens for their protection. Fencing keeps our chickens safe from predators such as fox, raccoons, dogs, weasels and other unwanted pests. Fencing them also encourages foraging in one area (intensive grazing), as opposed to free ranging in my flowerbeds. Fencing also keeps the chicken from crossing the road!
Pasture Pens for Broilers
We use outdoor moveable shelters or pens for raising our broilers. The shelters have an open bottom and sit directly on the pasture. The pen is moved to a new location daily as the birds grow. The chickens eat pasture grasses and bugs, get plenty of sunshine, fresh air, clean water and the opportunity to forage naturally.
All of our chickens are fed 100% certified organic feed from Curly Tail Organic Farm in Fredericktown, Ohio. Along with organic feed, our chickens have access to organic pasture and left over organic produce. Our chickens are raised under the most humane conditions—they go outside every day (weather and age permitting) and forage for bugs, eat grass and absorb plenty of sunshine and fresh air. We never use drugs, hormones, or chemicals on our chickens.
A natural organic pastured diet, coupled with daily exercise, substantially increases the nutritional value of eggs and poultry. Pastured poultry has been shown to be higher in Omega-3 Fatty Acids and in Vitamin A, with a significant reduction in 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 tastes like.
The Benefits of Pastured Poultry
Why Eat Pastured Poultry?
Research shows that pastured poultry eggs are better than eggs laid by confined hen:
- Pastured eggs contain 20 times more omega-3 fatty acids with a ratio of 1 to 1 omega-6 to omega-3. Factory eggs have a top heavy ratio of 20 to 1.
(Ref: New England Journal of Medicine -1989) - Pastured eggs have 10% less fat, 40% more vitamin A, 400% more omega-3 fatty acids. *
- Pastured eggs have 34% less cholesterol. *
- Pastured eggs produce positive HDL or good cholesterol and lowers "bad" triglycerides.
- Pastured poultry have 21% less total fat, 30% less saturated fat, and 28% fewer calories vs. conventionally raised. Meat has 50% more vitamin A and 100% more omega3s. *
(Ref: Nutrition -1993)
* (ref: USDA Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education Program).
Egg yolks are the richest known source of lutein and zeaxanthin, essential vitamins not found in your multi-vitamin tablet.
Eggs are gaining new respect from nutritionists, partly for their abundance of two carotenes --- lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidant vitamins are essential for the protection of the macula, an area of the retina that provides our best central vision. Eggs are the richest known source. "Macular degeneration," the term for damage to this area of the retina, is the leading cause of blindness in people over 55 years of age. Lutein and zeaxanthin protect the macula from the destructive effects of light. The deeper the yellow-orange color of yolks, the more lutein and zeaxanthin they contain and the more eye-protection they offer.
There is also new evidence linking lutein and zeaxanthin with a lower risk of colon cancer. According to a recent study, "Of all the carotenoids investigated, only lutein and zeaxanthin showed a protective effect against colon cancer, with an enhanced effect in younger people."
(Slattery, M. L., Benson, J., Curtin, K., Ma, K. N., Schaeffer, D., and Potter, J. D. (2000). Am J Clin Nutr 71, 575-82.)
Eggs from pastured layers are higher in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E.
In a recent study, one group of chickens was confined indoors (the conventional system) and another was allowed to free-range. Both groups were fed the same commercial mixed diet. The chickens that were able to add grass to the menu produced eggs that that were higher in omega-3s and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E.) Both omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E have been linked with lower rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease in humans.
(Lopez-Bote et al, "Effect of free-range feeding on omega-3 fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative stability of eggs." Animal Feed Science and Technology, 1998. 72:33-40.)
