Commercial Meat Bird Companies??

[flockoffour]

I have four laying hens, and I do not plan on having meat birds any time soon (although I would like to in the future) so I have to buy my chicken (meat) from the store. I was trying to determine what brand/company to get it from, and if anyone knows of one that can be trusted. My mother suggested foster farms, saying that they built all new facilities, but a friend of mine has been into one of their facilities, and she claimed it was absolutley sickening and abhorrent. I was wondering if anyone knew of a brand I could trust, and where I could get it from?
Thanks

 

[AgroUrica]

This is just a suggestion. Instead of buying your chicken for processing from a commercial operation where thousands of birds are crammed together and fed commercial feed, perhaps you could find someone in your area who is producing meat birds in a more sane and chicken-friendly environment?

 

[Backyard Bob]

 

[flockoffour]

Good idea, I'll have to loook around

 

[wsmoak]

If you are concerned about how your chicken was raised and processed, you probably won't be happy with most of what you find in a supermarket.

(There are some exceptions, for example I just bought grass fed beef from White Oak Pastures at my local Publix.)

One place to start is Eat Wild: http://www.eatwild.com/ Find your state and look for some producers.

You could also post on Craigslist and ask if anyone near you is raising chickens. Maybe you can do a co-op where you split an order of chicks, pay for the feed, and you go over and help them process.

There are all kinds of creative ways to avoid factory farmed and commercially processed chicken. Good luck!

-Wendy

 

[flockoffour]

Thanks! I didn't think of that, I'll post an add on craigslist.