The chicks are growing and outside full-time. This is the chicken pen Brian built for them, but we still need to make some nesting boxes.We move the pen once a day so the chicks can have a fresh salad bar. I have been reading Pastured Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin, and the first part of his book addresses the question "Why Pastured Poultry?"
(Pastured Poultry- chickens that have access to fresh grass, insects and sunshine)
After reading just a few chapters of his book I am excited about raising pastured poultry and someday providing it to others. Here are just a few comparisons of his Pastured Poultry to Conventional Chicken.
Polyface Chicken VS Conventional Chicken
No medications VS Routine Medications
No hormones VS Routine hormones
Low stress VS High Stress
Clean Air VS Air hazy with fecal particulate
Fresh air and sunshine VS Limited air and practically no sunshine
Plenty of exercise VS Limited Exercise
Fresh daily salad bar VS No green material or bugs
Guts and feathers composted and used for fertilizer VS Guts cooked and rendered, then fed back to chickens
No injections during processing VS Routine injections during processing
No drug-resistant diseases VS Drug-Resistant diseases( Salmonella)
Low Saturated Fat VS High Saturated Fat
No Chlorine baths VS Up to 40 chlorine baths
No irradiation VS FDA-approved irradiation (label not required)
Environmentally responsible VS Environmentally irresponsible
Promotes family farming VS Promotes feudal/serf agriculture
Promotes entrepreneurial spirit VS Promotes low wage/time-clock employment
Rich, delicious taste VS Poor, flat taste
