Here's a quote from the ASPCA website "In 1925, it took 16 weeks to raise a chicken to 2.5 pounds. Today, chickens weigh double that in just six weeks!"
So for all the genetic improvement over the last 80 plus years we can definitely see a big part of the focus was get the birds to slaughter weight as fast as possible.
Which begs the question: How fast is too fast?
In this case if you were to compare the growth rate of a human to that of a modern day broiler chicken you would find According to the University of Arkansas, if humans grew at a similar rate, a 6.6-pound newborn baby would weigh 660 pounds after two months.
You have to admit, that's pretty fast by anyone's standards!
At Spring Hill Farms we have been raising Label Rouge broilers since they have been available in the United States. Although these birds grow slower than Cornish Cross, they are faster than a chicken in 1925.
Of course this type of "exposure" about what's going on in the poultry industry causes some very fervent emotions. The last time I checked there were about 300 comments on the ASPCA's blog where they announced the launch of The Truth about Chicken.
Before this campaign was launched I was contacted by the ASPCA to inquire if I would allow them to use a quote from my blog about what I felt was wrong with Cornish Cross chickens. You can read that blog post here.
I'll be honest with you...I was hesitant at first because I really had no idea what the ASPCA stood for when it came to livestock welfare. After a conversation with them and reading through their website I felt that they have a fairly balanced approach to livestock issues.
Many of the humane and cruelty type organizations have a "do not eat meat" mindset. I obviously wouldn't agree with that type of philosophy.
Of course I believe high welfare standards are a very central part of raising livestock.
See I don't believe that the fastest growth rate obtainable for poultry or any other livestock is the number one one factor.
I believe that high welfare standards should come first followed by nutritional quality of the meat, flavor profiles, sustainability, etc.
A small farm that is ran right should reflect a place:
I signed the petition for The Truth about Chicken and I urge you to do so also.
If you are a small farmer let people know you believe the industrial poultry farm model is not the way to raise chickens. If you're using Cornish Cross birds on your small farm stop using them and get something better suited to the small farm model.
If we take a stand on these issues through organizations like the ASPCA and stop supporting the commercial poultry industry with our dollars things will begin to change.
At the very least we'll be able to sleep a little better at night knowing we are doing something to help facilitate change where it is needed very badly.
Sign the petition here: "The Truth about Chicken"
Until next time...
When I first started raising pastured poultry I used the standard Cornish Cross birds that are used in commercial operations. I explain why I stopped raising them here.
Many pastured poultry farmers use these birds because they are convinced that no other bird compares. This blog on Dr Mercola's site is an interview with Joel Salatin. To me, Joel is one of the great pioneers of sustainable farming of our time.
You'll notice that Joel uses these Cornish Cross birds as well. His contention about using anything else the last time I heard him speak about it was that no other bird could be successfully raised at a profit.
For the most part that is true. However Freedom Ranger birds like we raise here at Spring Hill Farms not only can compete with the Cornish Cross, in some ways they are actually better.
Number one - They are a more active bird than Cornish Cross birds. This means the meat is firmer and has more texture than a bird that for the most part lays around and eats.
Number two - Freedom Rangers consume more green material than Cornish Cross birds hands down.
Number three - This makes for a bird that is healthier and has a better flavor profile.
My personal opinion is Joel has it figured out when it comes to the pastured poultry model but we differ on what bird is best to use.
Take a look at this blog on Dr. Mercola's site where he interviews Joel as it closely mirrors how and why we use movable shelters to raise our broilers.
If you want the best chicken you can eat that you know is healthy for you, find a farmer that uses these methods and Freedom Ranger birds . If you're around central Ohio, try Spring Hill Farms pastured poultry, you'll be glad you did!
Until next time....
Google (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); I recently read the story of the youngest farmer to receive the Animal Welfare Approved certification.
Meet 12 year old Shelby Grebenc of Broomfield Co.
According to the article in the Animal Welfare Approved newsletter, she has 130 laying hens. She has named her farm Shelby's Happy Chapped Butt Chicken Farm because she says since folks can see her farm from the road people sometimes drop off chickens. She found a an empty box one day with chickens running around. They had no tail feathers and looked pretty sore so it seemed fitting.
Shelby started her farm when she was 10 years old by approaching her grandmother for a $1,000 loan to start a pasture raised egg business.
This stemmed from the situation at hand, her mother Nancy who has multiple Sclerosis was in a nursing home and Shelby wanted to expand the family's income.
Shelby, my hat is off to you and I wish you well in everything you endeavor to do at your farm.
To read the Animal Welfare article go here.
American consumers are becoming aware of the practices of large commercial farming operations and they don't like what they learn.
Here's a great example of proof. Not using sub-therapeutic antibiotics can quickly lower the anti resistant bacterias found on these farms.
You can read more about just how dangerous antibiotic use can be to all of us here: "This development of drug resistance scares the hell out of me," says Kellogg Schwab
(From the Union of Concerned Scientists)
A blockbuster new scientific study shows that a transition to organic animal production methods that don’t use antibiotics can reduce levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on farms.
This is the first U.S. study to provide on-farm data on the impacts of removing antibiotics from large-scale poultry CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations).
Researchers from the University of Maryland and the Food and Drug Administration measured levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in poultry litter, water, and feed samples from 10 conventional poultry operations and 10 newly-organic operations of similar size. (Under organic certification rules, producers are not allowed to use antibiotics.) The newly antibiotic-free organic farms had much lower rates of resistant bacteria compared to the conventional farms, demonstrating that the reduction in antibiotic use can immediately lower the levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found on the farm.
The study was released in the midst of a massive food safety recall of ground turkey contaminated with antibiotic-resistant salmonella. That incident, involving 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced by agribusiness giant Cargill, sickened some 111 consumers. Read the full study here, and learn more about the turkey recall here.
I routinely eat my eggs raw but for many that is not something they are ready to do unless they are really a committed health fanatic!
It's very handy though, I can have two or three raw eggs and some fresh vegetable juice for lunch and be back to work in ten minutes.
If I'm in a hurry in the morning I can crack a couple of eggs into a mug and two swallows later my breakfast is over and I'm out the door!
I would not recommend doing this with store bought eggs regardless of pastured, free range or otherwise. The risk of salmonella is very real.
Here's a list of the top 10 super foods for your health. How many are you consuming?
The Top 10 Best Superfoods
“DISCOVER HOW TO GROW BIG FAT COMPOSTING WORMS & PRODUCE MORE PREMIUM ORGANIC WORM COMPOST & WORM TEA FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE...
Until next time....
In my opinion one of the worst meats you can buy in the grocery these days is chicken. It is one of the most adulterated meats in the store!
Laced with residues and other products deliberately added to enhance flavor, you would greatly enhance your over-all health by switching to local, small farm, pastured poultry.
Pastured poultry is actually going to help you enhance your health vs tax your immune system with toxins you need to rid your body of.
Check out this great video by Dr Oz on what's really going into your store bought, industrially raised chicken.
The bird pictured here weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces in 68 days. We had some break the 6 lb mark! This was in late September through the end of November. We had quite a bit of temps down in the 30's at night and 50's through the day. Several times we had storms with strong winds and gusty winds for a day or two after.
Not the perfect weather I always hope for, but these birds still did quite well.
The carcass is longer than the usual grocery store chicken or Cornish type bird but every bit as meaty. Since they forage so aggressively they've got to be loaded with Omega 3's.
If you are looking for good chicken that forages for grass, bugs and worms like the old time chickens of yesteryear, look no further than Freedom Rangers at Spring Hill Farms.
Folks often ask me "what's the difference in pastured poultry and free range?"
Well for the most part it depends on who is defining it! Grocery stores would want you to believe that "free range" or "pastured" means the birds are free to roam around outside and range for bugs and grass and live the life every chicken dreams of.
But most of the time it means in the industrial setting, they have a minimum amount of access to the outside.
It might be dirt and completely devoid of bugs or grass but they met the requirements to advertise free range.
To the small farmer it can mean different things as well. I've seen birds turned out in the day and locked back into the coop at night.
I know farmers who have a chicken "run" that lets the bird outside but unless moved frequently to another area it quickly becomes not only devoid of bugs and grass, but becomes a breeding ground for pathogens.
What do we do here at Spring Hill Farms with our pastured poultry?
We use movable, floor-less, pens. These pens are moved daily and depending on the age of the bird, could be moved twice a day.
We also think that electrified poultry netting is a very good option as well. Provided the birds are moved to fresh pasture as needed.
Why don't we let our birds roam around? The number one reason is predators.
With the decline in hunting and trapping of fur bearing animals and varmints, the farmer is over run with Raccoons, Fox, Coyotes, Weasels, Mink, Opossum, and who knows what I forgot.
These are all dangers to your poultry flock.
We work in co operation with nature and wildlife but there is no sense in tempting animals to get a free, easy meal by leaving our pastured poultry or laying hens completely exposed to danger.
Another reason we prefer movable pens and poultry netting is we can control the birds access to harmful pathogens.
Birds that free range or roam about freely tend to roost in the same places night after night. Farmers tend to feed them in the same place day after day.
Both of these practices can lead to a build up of pathogens in those feeding/sleeping areas.
At Spring Hill Farms we strive to raise animals with the least amount of inputs to keep them happy healthy and robust. Reducing harmful pathogen loads is the first step in that journey.
This is done through intensive management not medicating. On the surface it seems easier to drop some chemical wormers or antibiotics into the animal and fore go the moving pens everyday.
But it is actually easier to avoid health problems than try to fix them.
From the health standpoint for the consumer we believe it gives us a superior product in taste, texture and health.
Let's look at the idea of moving pens daily.
First of all this automatically reduces pathogen loads by moving away from yesterdays lounging area and providing new ground for the birds.
Secondly, it provides fresh grass of our choosing not the birds. When birds free range roam about you'll find they lounge in the same areas, (pathogen problem) and range fairly close to the lounging area.
Animals are lazy by nature. They will not go long distances just because the grass is better. And at some point if the area gets poor enough and large enough, the birds will have played out the range they are used to and need more grain and are really no different than a grocery store chicken at that point.
We work hard to mimic nature when raising livestock, wether it's chickens, pigs, or goats we think as natural as possible is best.
The Freedom Rangers birds we use are aggressive foragers by nature. Unlike the industry standard Cornish Cross or Cornish X, which is lazy and fast growing by nature.
We have raised them in the past and found them to be undesirable in a system such as ours.
I actually blogged about the problems with Cornish Cross Chickens. You can read it here.
Watch the video below to see these birds going after forage. They consume forage like a heritage breed bird because they are derived from heritage breed genetics.
Aggressive foragers means more CLA's and Omega 3's in your poultry.
Watch the video here to see what Professor Crawford of Britain has to say after 30 years of studying the nutritional value of chicken.
He is very concerned with the levels of Omega 3 fatty acids being almost nonexistent in chicken. He even says it could cause mental illness to skyrocket in the years ahead.
Here's an excerpt from Paris Reidhead's article:
CLAs & Omega-3s: Pasture Health Benefits Passed Transferred to People.
...In laboratory animals, a very small percentage of CLA—a mere 0.1 percent of total calories—greatly reduced tumor growth. CLA may also reduce cancer risk in humans. In a Finnish study, women who had the highest levels of CLA in their diet, had a 60 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those with the lowest levels. Similarly, French researchers measured CLA levels in the breast tissues of 360 women. In fact, the women with the most CLA had a staggering 74% lower risk of breast cancer than the women with the least CLA.
Switching from grain-fed to grass-fed meat and dairy products places women in this lowest risk category. Researcher Tilak Dhiman, PhD., from Utah State University estimates that persons may be able to lower their risk of cancer simply by eating the following grass-fed products each day: one glass of whole milk, one ounce of cheese, and one serving of meat. One must consume five times that amount of grain-fed meat and dairy products to get the same level of protection.
Omega-3s are polyunsaturated fatty acids found in leafy green vegetables, vegetable oils, and fish such as salmon and mackerel. Omega-3s reduce serum cholesterol levels and are anticoagulants. Grazing livestock also yield abundant omega-3s in their meat and dairy products, almost as much as the oils from the above-cited fish. (Such claims cannot be made for non-grazing livestock.)....
....It has been estimated that only 40 percent of Americans consume an adequate supply of Omega-3 fatty acids. Twenty percent of U.S. citizens have blood levels so low in Omega-3s as to be undetectable. Switching to the meat, milk, and dairy products of grass-fed animals is one way to restore this vital nutrient to their diet.
It is increasingly evident that eating pasture-based animal products greatly benefits human health. This fact spotlights the need for producers to stress elements of animal husbandry, specifically pasture management, which maximize the intake, by grazing animals, of CLAs, Omega-3s, and natural vitamins. More and more, informed consumers expect and demand these health elements in their animal products. Dairy and livestock people who meet those demands should be rewarded accordingly......
If you're in central Ohio and looking for grass-fed meats give us a call or email, we'd be glad to help you out.
Watch our Freedom Rangers Here
Time and time again science proves nature is the best provider of food. Human cleverness, as Joel Salatin calls it,can never quite get all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Here's a great video showing the nutritional profile of pastured eggs vs industrial agriculture eggs.
This is a great video showing the nutritional profile of pastured vs conventional chickens. I will be ordering our last batch of birds next week. If you were thinking of ordering now is the time...
If you ordered chickens from us give us a call or email we may be able to fill your order now as some folks needed to reschedule.
Our Freedom Ranger chicks arrived at the farm today today. This video shows us putting them in the brooder.
These birds are from the Label Rouge program. We believe them to be better than the standard Cornish Cross chickens for the model we use to raise them.
In my previous post I outlined why I think they are superior to Cornish Cross for the pastured poultry farmer.
I will be showing you how these birds grow out this season so stay tuned for more videos.
Watch the video here.
Until next time...
Cornish Cross birds are a lazy bird by nature with an insatiable appetite.
They basically sit, eat, and get bigger. These are admiral traits if the only goal is to produce a bird that grows very rapidly and produces a lot of breast meat.
However, if you sit back and observe this bird for very long you realize these cleverly select traits come with a price.
Research shows that these birds can gain weight at a rate faster than their skeletal system can bear.
This shows up as lameness and even broken legs. Another trait of these birds is they suffer heart failure.
You go to tend the birds, and find one stone dead for no apparent reason. More than likely it suffered heart failure.
Because they are so selectively bred for certain traits it can lead to a compromised immune system.
They are a fragile bird that was designed for huge agri-business to stuff in a confinement barn and feed sub therapeutic antibiotics to keep them healthy.
The hatchery told me to limit feed them so as to slow the growth rate down and help curb these health issues.
I did limit their intake of feed, and to a large degree it worked. But I came to the conclusion you were basically starving them to slow them down!
They are genetically designed to have an insatiable appetite. I raise Tamworth pigs on pasture and these birds make them look polite when it comes to feeding if they have ran out of feed for any length of time…even on grass.
Which brings up another observation: Freedom Ranger chickens are a far more aggressive forager of green material then Cornish Cross.
One of the health benefits touted by pastured poultry farmers is the opportunity for the birds to graze on green grass and bugs.
It made sense to me to use a bird that gets the most out the environment in which you raise it. Cornish birds were designed as an inside bird with no thought of foraging, that burns calories!
Contrast that with birds from the Label Rouge program in France (such as Freedom Rangers) and you see some distinct differences.
I chose Freedom Rangers because after examining the facts I felt they were better suited to my model of farming and welfare standards.
Why take a bird that was bred for big business and put it in an environment that it was never designed for?
I realize pastured poultry farmers while minimizing the problems outlined here can raise Cornish Cross birds.
But for us at Spring Hill Farms, we think there is a better way.
Until next time…