Pasture-Raised Broilers

“This is the best tasting chicken I’ve ever had!”, “After having your chicken, I don’t want to ever buy chicken at the store again!”. These are just a few of the many statements that customers have told me about my pasture-raised chickens. As you can tell, the first difference between pasture-raised and a factory farm chicken is in the rich flavor ours has. But it doesn’t stop there. Not only does it taste better, but it even smells better and the broth will be a nice golden color instead of the grayish broth from factory farm chicken. People have often remarked, “That chicken broth makes the best noodles!”

Those are only differences you can taste, smell, and see, but there are other more important advantages you can’t distinguish with your senses. Pature-raised chickens are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and have a more balanced Omega-6:Omega-3 ratio than their counterparts. They are also higher in beta-carotene (the precursor of Vitamin A), and are lower in saturated fat, total fat, and calories.

How are they raised? For the first three weeks of life, they are coddled in a warm and dry brooder house, and are then moved outside to floorless pasture shelters. For the next five weeks, the shelters are moved by hand daily to a new patch of fresh green pasture while being hand fed and watered twice daily. All processing is done by a fully state inspected operation run by a wonderful Mennonite family where they are meticulously dressed by hand, net mechanically, which often results in intestines being torn and fecal matter clinging to the birds. Chickens will be washed and cooled with fresh water and ice instead of chlorine/fecal soap baths used to get fecal matter off the birds in processing plants. This family has done this for years and will not under any circumstances compromise cleanliness or safety. In fact, every bird is handled just like they were going to eat it themselves. The birds will be cleaned, vacuum packed, weighed and labeled there- ready to go into your freezer!

In addition to whole chickens, we have chicken parts available including wings, drums, thighs, boneless breasts, and soup pot special (parts used to make your own chicken stock).

By the way, be sure to order plenty of chickens toward the end of the season to stockpile them in your freezer for winter.