Answer:
I want to start by saying that the reason I am farming is because healthy food became a passion and my journey began about 14 years ago. At that time pastured animals and organic were not as easy to come by and be best way to provide the food I wanted to feed my family was to grow it myself. It was an evolution, not an overnight change but that passion has expanded to include providing the quality food I want to other families as well and that is why we are farming. Now that you have an idea where I am coming from….the chickens I raise are certainly different than what you can find in the grocery starting with the breed. I raised freedom ranger chickens and the grocery is going to have cornish cross. Cornish cross chickens grow so fast that their bodies can’t handle it. They are full size in 5 to 8 weeks and often have health issues due to their rapid growth. They are known for breaking legs and having heart attacks.
Here is an article about it: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/broiler-chickens-health-issues-ze0z1802zmos/ There is another concern with cornish cross where a study found that grocery store chicken (cornish cross) had a “fatty white striping issue”. You can read about it here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicken-white-striping/#app. That is just the difference in breed of chickens that I raise compared to what you find in a grocer.
The second piece is that chicken raise on pasture has been found to have higher nutrient content. Here is a quote from the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, “Studies have shown elevated Omega-3 levels in meat from pasture-raised broilers as well as higher levels of vitamin E (although no difference in cholesterol) (Ponte et al., 2008a) and other nutritive factors (Gorski, 2000). Pastured poultry meat may possibly have a longer fresh product shelf life (Sun et al., 2012a), as well as a discernible difference in taste according to a 30-person untrained tasting panel (Ponte et al.,2008b), although there was no significant difference among the meat qualities affecting taste as measured by the researchers in the laboratory. Sun et al. (2012a) also reported higher vitamin E and iron content in thighs and breast meat from broilers reared in grasshopper-rich alpine pastures, as well as lower cholesterol and a higher Omega-3 content (Sun et al., 2012b).”
I could go on but I may have already given you more that you wanted! If you want to know more visit our Facebook Page and send us a message.