Flock afoot, learning from chickens
aka stewarding dinosaurs
Raising healthy, happy and nutritious chickens in partnership with nature is a joy but also a challenge. Each batch of chickens requires 6-12 weeks of being on our game! A substantial part of your brain is taken up with the health and well being of these relatives of the dinosaur which due to modern breeding and food production efficiency are actually quite needy and relatively defenseless.
Chickens that are free to roam as their ancestors did are susceptible to predators day and night. As a farmer you are twice daily either letting them out or making sure they have gone up at night and locking up the coop. You are providing a smorgasbord of food to the chickens but trying to keep scavengers and predators of catching wind of it. You make sure they have clean water. You watch your birds movement across your pastures keenly to make sure they are having a positive impact on the soil, water and plants. You watch the skies to see if there are aerial predators stalking your flock.
It can feel like a lot some days… so it’s no wonder most chickens raised in the US are kept indoors and away from natural systems. But it’s also no wonder our nation suffers from poor nutrition while our soils are depleted and our waters are over fertilized. When farmers decide to raise food differently, the risks are ever-present, but the benefits are easy to see, taste, smell and hear.
On the continuum between treating chickens like factory units and treating them as partners in stewardship, each farmer has to find what works for them, their land and their community.
Some choose the fastest growing chickens to limit feed costs and the number of days that something can go wrong.
Some choose conventional feed, others non-GMO, and others certified organic.
Some choose to keep them enclosed in barns to control their movement and intake.
Some choose to move them to fresh grass daily but keep them in a small ‘tractor’ to keep them safe and not moving too much.
Some choose to hybridize and adapt based on what feels right.
For our small farm, we have found that moderately fast growing birds which still know how to act like little dinosaurs, are smart enough to run for cover when a hawk flies over, return to their coop at night, and even roost when the mood strikes them fit our desires, land and farming system the best. Like all partnering with natural systems, it is not fool proof and keeps us on our toes, but dang does the chicken sure taste great!
We have found a rhythm with our chickens that is downright pleasant and we feel a partnership in stewarding the land with these creatures.
Letting them out of their coop each morning we get to see them search out their favorite plants or hunt for earthworms as a wake-up treat. Having smarter birds with more survival instincts and better mobility certainly helps to ease our worries on predators, but the partnership with these birds seems to do more than just ease our worry.
The needs of these animals draw us out each morning to enjoy the fresh dew, notice the budding flowers and watch the pastures closely.
We feed Michigan grown certified organic feed with both dry and fermented food available to them. We started fermenting a portion of their food (roughly 1/3rd) after a suggestion from a friend. When we started this, we noted that the feathers and overall health of the birds improved so we kept at it and honed our process. It is fun (especially on the hot days) to watch them relish in our equivalent of yogurt and get some good hydration in the process. We’ve noticed that when we introduce the fermented feed after 3-4 weeks of age, they slurp up the ferment water with zest for the first week or so, seeming to know that their bodies would benefit from the probiotic shift and diversity it brings. After a week or so, their thirst for it reduces, seeming to suggest they have satisfied their needs. We can learn from the nutritional wisdom of animals, even chickens. Maybe our two young kids recognize this subconsciously as they ask for another wing or drumstick.
Each night we go out to close them up we can marvel at the clouds rolling overhead, watch the swallows be replaced by bats as the sun sets, and even witness the aurora borealis one night.
Observing our chicken flocks has taught us more each year. We have also learned that in sticking to set meal times for the chickens they tend to get more adventurous in looking for snacks - adding to their activity and the variety in their diets. I could go on but…
What does this mean for your meat?
Well…are you a short answer or long answer kind of person?
When put simply- these chickens had a good life- they spent most of their lives outside moving a lot and truly foraging around in our pastures eating a varied diet. They were tended by folks who tried to be keen observers of the needs of not only the chickens but also the environment that these chickens called home. We think all of this together makes for a great tasting and nutrient packed product.
If you’re looking for the more complex answer- Wrong Direction Farms has a great post here with about 20 references. Their management system is essentially the standard high-quality pastured poultry system. We take it a step further with some of the things described above (letting our birds forage out of their coop everyday, providing both dry and fermented organic feed, and raising a slightly slower but more intelligent, flavorful and healthy chicken breed).
There are many ways to raise a chicken, there are many types of chicken, we don’t presume to know the very best way but we sure do like the chicken we raise. As the appetites in our family increase we find ourselves wishing we saved more chicken for ourselves each year. As we ate the wings from one of our very last chickens in the freezer I exclaimed with delight to my husband who prepared the meal- THESE ARE SO GOOD! And truly we do find the taste unmatched with other products available. There is such juiciness in parts that ordinarily aren’t juicy and tenderness in spots that often feel stringy in other chicken. And the flavor has a simple complexity that feels just right.
If you want to try for yourself and let us know what you think check out our pasture raised chicken available July 7, 2024 here. And if you think of a friend who might be interested in this chicken we would love it if you shared this post with them.
