Why we should eat grass fed chicken-- read on

[LindaB220]

I think you misunderstand the article. THese are not way out of date. IF anything this kind of thinking is gaining ground. Our commercial food animals are fed less than desireale feeds and are at best sources of protein but no longer have the higher levels ofVItA etc. I myself am not interested in eating Beef derived of newspapers. ( Mother Earth) Having grown lamb for over 20 years I ws not surprised to find that lamb is considered one of the better choices on the market as they rarely are fed in a feed lot but go right to slaughter off the fields.

Every day I see my chickens choose grass over eating pellets. Mine free range. THey eat bugs, worms, flies and all manner of extras. Pellets are their last choice.

I 'm sorry you don't have the best grwoing conditions. You can supplement your chickens feed with greens of many types. SInce you buy all their feed,consider adding aflfalfa pellets to up the beneficial greens in their diet. In the summer mine get leftovers from the garden and our kitchen. Friends often save their leftovers too for my birds. You can grow green fodder as some call it ( ie. sprouted oats.)

Poor quality food has led to a meriad of health issues in us humans. Only in the last 50 years or so have we moved to feed lot style production and moved the animals off the fields.

If you are interested , check out Sugar Mtn Farm in VT. Hogs are raised on pasture with some supplements, but primarily eat high quality forages and the piglets supplemented with chicken eggs for more protein. Here is a case where Vt govenment supports agricultural endevors more than many other states.

Good point. One question. Beef is raised for 6-7 mo on pasture before going to the feed lots. How long do they have to stay before slaughter. Just wondering. I've read that to finish chickens to put in a small pen and feed them good for 2 wks. How about the beef.

 

[AmericanMom]

Thank you for answering that question. My pellets smell so nice, like alfalfa, you would think the chickens woudl at least try it!! lol Maybe they have a pact with the rabbits and intruding for a bathe is enough to ask of the rabbits.

LOL, I have to keep the door closed most times as the chickens get in there and make such a mess, I about broke an ankle a few weeks ago because of all the potholes they created...Mind you I am not saying no chicken will eat the pellets, its just that mine don't eat the pellets.. Don't know why, like you said, they smell so good.

 

[kizanne]

When I'm traveling and my chickens can't get out to the grass. I have the sitter (when I get one) take alfalfa cubes (ones for horses I think) and put them in water for an hour then throw it in the pen. It is green and smells like grass and my girls choose it over their feed.

I truly believe that what they eat effects the nutrition they provide us. The studies on grass fed cow and pastured eggs prove it. Problem is there isn't any money to research different styles and types because no one makes money on grass fed.... The feed companies and supplement companies pay for research about adding stuff to corn or what have you because they can make money selling it.

 

[Arielle]

Sad but true.

I learned as a teen working at aresearch facility to pay attention to who was paying for the studies . . . don't bite the hand that feeds you. All reporting has an angle or an adjenda, tweezing out the truth is tricky.

I can see the eggs myself.

Once years ago at a conference, Astt prof was there while a supplier was doing a demo on the lastest treatest hay drying agent. Trying to drum up buyers. They talked numbers, etc. THen the asst prof spoke up and said that the univeristy had been doing a study with the product and the desired results required TWICE the concentration the dealer was recommending.
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American mom-- I think I will try a little on a few and see if they suck it down. Wish me luck.

 

[Arielle]

Good point. One question. Beef is raised for 6-7 mo on pasture before going to the feed lots. How long do they have to stay before slaughter. Just wondering. I've read that to finish chickens to put in a small pen and feed them good for 2 wks. How about the beef.

Been a while since beef experience--- the is about weaning age, then on pasture for another yearish, then to feed lot.

I have heard different recommendations on fatteneing. I personally don't pen my chickens to fatten then up. Most of my birds freerang collecting from gardens, lawn and woods. I did recently cook up a cornishx and that boy was penned because he would not survive free ranging, he was a bit fatter than I like. Generally speaking leaner meat is better for us-- I"m not a meat carcass expert but I think chicken meat doesnot marble like beef, fat is between muscle masses or under the skin. ANd just roasts off during cooking into pan drippings. So while I am fine with eating some fat, excessive is a financial waste again unless you need it as a fat source.

In a nutshell I don't fatten my birds .

 

[Bossroo]

Fat is where the flavor comes from. In animals such as beef and lamb , one gets more flavor and tenderness through fat marbling among the muscles, best achieved with the benefit of feeding grains and hay for 90 - 120 days in a feed lot , or at ones' own small pen / pasture .

While in chickens fat resides mostly under the skin as well as in fat pads in the abdominal cavity . best achieved when fowl have access to larger quantities of grains and animal and insect protein.

 

[Arielle]

I love fat and eat plenty of it. I just don't work at fattening up my meat animals, and I am leaning more toward grasses now than grains.

3 years ago I raised a small group of BBW, and fed a commercial pellet of mostly corn and SBM. THe grass trekiking became impossible during the last few weeks as the turkeys were so heavy they sat by the feed bowls. When eating the roasts I was struck by the taste-- exactly the same as the grocery store bird. Totally turned me off. I'm looking for better flavor via non grain sources as that is an expensive expense and doesn't put on the good quality vit A and omega 3's like good green legumes and grasses etc.

 

[LindaB220]

Fat is where the flavor comes from. In animals such as beef and lamb , one gets more flavor and tenderness through fat marbling among the muscles, best achieved with the benefit of feeding grains and hay for 90 - 120 days in a feed lot , or at ones' own small pen / pasture .

While in chickens fat resides mostly under the skin as well as in fat pads in the abdominal cavity . best achieved when fowl have access to larger quantities of grains and animal and insect protein.

Yeah, what I was thinking about is next years cull roosters. Let them range for 3 mos or so then pen for a couple of weeks with corn.

 

[donrae]

I bought alfalfa pellets last winter to supplement my birds with greens when the garden was dead. They wouldn't eat them.

I've heard soaking them helps the birds like them better, I just don't want to do that.

 

[Arielle]

I bought alfalfa pellets last winter to supplement my birds with greens when the garden was dead. They wouldn't eat them.

I've heard soaking them helps the birds like them better, I just don't want to do that.

I wonder if they would eat alf if introduced to the pellets as chick s. . . .