The mean American eats about 80 pound of chicken per year , which progress to it by far the main seed of fauna protein in the American diet . The gamy demand for crybaby has created bottom - line driven manufacturing plant farm , which look very different than how chicken were traditionally produce by our ancestors , in backyard troop and on small - scale farm .
Raising chickens for center or eggs in a more sustainable means is a destination of many hoi polloi wanting to produce food for themselves and for net profit . sure things put organic Gallus gallus farms asunder from others that may use alike farming practice — feed , pasture admittance , lodging and breeds , among them . If you ’re interested in keeping chickens in a intelligent , more natural mode , here are some things you postulate to know .
The Difference Between Organic and Pastured Chicken
Pastured Gallus gallus is not the same as constitutive chicken . If you be after to keep crybaby that are “ pastured , ” you ’re doing just that : producing poultry that ’s been raised on pasture . These could be free - scope chickens that may or may not be kept inside a predator - proof , fenced area , or your chickens can be observe in mobile chicken henhouse call chicken tractors . pasture chicken are not subject to laws regarding antibiotic consumption , parasite control , GMO grain or amendments that might be hold to the pasture , so it ’s potential for a crybaby to be pastured but non - organic .
Standards for organic chicken are strict.
Chicken that ’s labeled “ organic , ” must be raised harmonise to USDA National Organic Program rules from its second sidereal day after brood . These rules include :
How Do You Know If You Have Non-GMO Grains?
Even chicken lift on pasture require grain in their diets . While oxen , sheep and Equus caballus can survive by eating forage alone , crybaby have a digestive system that does not allow them to process grass efficiently , so their diets must be supplemented .
If you ’re feeding your chicken certified - organic feed bought from a provender mill or provender memory , you may be confident that it does n’t hold in GMO grains . If you ’re purchasing your grains from a farmer or a provender mill and the grains arenotlabeled as organic or non - GMO , ask the feed mill or farmer if the grain are GM . You must be able to try that your feed is certified organic to the documentation examiner , so keep hold of this documentation .
You ’ll notice reasonably quickly that organic chicken feed and non - GMO poulet provender are more expensive than GMO grains . This is because it is more expensive to produce non - GMO grains and because most of the Zea mays and soy originate in the U.S. are GM , so organic and non - GMO feeds are distinctiveness item .
Set Up Mobile Chicken Coops
On an organic wimp farm , one choice for poulet keeping is in a mobile chicken hencoop . Commonly calledchicken tractor , nomadic volaille henhouse can be built at abode or purchased . There are unlike style of coops to pick out between based on your preferences , the bit and kind of chicken you keep , and your climate .
Joel Salatin , sustainable - farming counsellor and author ofPastured Poultry Profits(Polyface , 1996 ) , among other books , designed a 12 - by-12 - foot pen that ’s 2 feet tall , which is popular pattern among Fannie Farmer raising crop kernel birds . Other mobile Gallus gallus chicken coop are taller , characteristic nest loge and roost for laying hens , or have a long and narrow-minded design to give more of a straight - away for alive chicken breeds to run .
One affair all pastured - poultry mobile chicken henhouse have in common is predator proofing . Chickens are largely defenceless againstpredators , so it ’s important for all volaille Fannie Merritt Farmer to protect their pastured meat birds from daytime , nocturnal , land - ground and aerial predators .
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Heritage Chicken Breeds
license - constitutive chicken does n’t have any breed requirements . Cornish - Rock cross cockerels are a common commercial , factory - farm crybaby breed . While some pastured - domestic fowl and organic - poulet farmers use this fast - growing breed , too , others use Freedom Rangers or Red Rangers , which do not grow as tight as breeds developed for mill husbandry but do develop more quickly and efficiently than heritage Gallus gallus strain .
On the other hand , there are James Leonard Farmer and wimp keepers who need to preserve inheritance chicken breeds and appreciate the flavor that come from a slower - growing chicken . A few inheritance chicken stock that were developed specifically for meat production admit :
Nutritional Content Of Organic Chicken
Chicken has a unsubtle nutritional value . One 4 - Panthera uncia portion of pasture - raise chicken breast provides about 35 grams of protein , or 70 per centum of the recommended daily value . There are high total of amino group acids — cysteine , leucine , isoleucine and valine — that are of import for support of cardiac and skeletal muscle . Chicken is a in particular helpful food for obtaining vitamin B3 ( provide about 98 percent of the dietary reference intake per service ) , vitamin B6 ( more than 40 percent ) and choline ( more than 20 percent ) , and it is a good source of other B vitamin , as well . In terms of mineral , Gallus gallus is richest in selenium and provides about 57 percent of the DRI per do , plus zinc , atomic number 29 , phosphorus , magnesium and iron .
However , it ’s difficult to prove if organic chickens are actually more nutrient - thick than conventionally raise chickens . The meat ’s nutritionary content can depend on a variety of factors , including diet and overall health of the alive wimp .
Find Organic Chicken Farms Near You
If you ’re more interested in buy organic crybaby and organic testicle than you are in receive an constitutive chicken farm , there is probable a farm near you that raise certified - constituent poulet . alike , if you want to start an constitutive chicken farm , you should visit other farms to see how they raise their chicken and graze poultry .
Find an organic chicken farm near you using these sources :
With a canonic understanding of what organic Gallus gallus agriculture is about , you could further search how much of a market there is for organic fowl products in your area and what it would take for you to get protrude . you could also spill the beans to other constitutive chicken James Leonard Farmer about their pastured meat hiss , non - GMO provender , inheritance chicken breeds , mobile poulet coops and more .
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
Elenarts/iStock/Thinkstock
