Polyface Pastured Broiler Chickens

written by

posted on

October 8, 2024

First, what's a "broiler"? If you're like me, this term doesn't make you think "Oh, a chicken. Obviously". When a farmer talks about a 'broiler', they're not referring to the top burner of an oven specifically made to turn yummy foods black in the time it takes you to blink three times.

Broilers are young meat chickens. These young chickens are selected to be meaty and grow faster than egg-laying type chickens. It's easy to think about the phenotype difference between a basketball player and a lineman in football. That's the difference between an egg-laying chicken and a meat chicken.

Here at Polyface, we purchase our meat (broiler) chicks from an independent hatchery, starting the birds in a brooder for warmth and protection. They arrive at Polyface completely unmedicated when they're about 1 day old.

After 3 weeks in our warm brooder, we put them on pasture in floorless 12 ft. X 10 ft. X 2 ft. high portable shelters that we move every day. These shelters have open sides for ventilation.

Each shelter houses about 70 birds. In their 5-6 weeks on pasture, each bird enjoys about 60 cumulative square feet of pasture, given in daily installments. Think about that. SIXTY square feet PER chicken. A fresh salad bar and a change of bedding each day.

While chickens only eat 10-15 percent of their diet in forages, those green leaves are like a tonic for health and proper nutritional balance like Omega 3 fatty acids.

Because chickens wake early, we move them at daybreak while the dew is still on the grass and it’s as crisp and succulent as possible.

The covered shelters protect these vulnerable birds from aerial and ground predators, which are many. Everything that goes bump in the night likes to eat chicken.

Half of the shelter over these broilers is shaded. With their white feathers and meaty bodies, broilers like to relax in the shade during the afternoon hours of the day when their bellies are full.

Depending on growth, we process these birds at 7, 8, or 9 weeks. They eat a non-GMO locally sourced ration that is tested for chemical residues. These birds inhale no fecal particulate like factory birds and always have a fresh place to live.

Our Polyface broilers get fresh air and sunshine and are in small enough groups to keep from being stressed. Let that sink in for a moment... Folks have wondered why Polyface chicken is so tender, simply falls off the bones, and makes them feel so much better after eating it than commercial counterparts. Our thinking concludes that the same things that are good for people are good for our animals - plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and avoiding stress and 'fight or flight' situations. It just makes sense, doesn't it?

Our first group of broilers starts in early March and the last bird finishes in late October. We have just one more group of birds on the pasture for 2024! Our entire broiler program is a 6-month on, 6-month off project and we rely on freezers to ensure a year-round supply of these amazing tender chickens.

Since chickens don’t like snow, the seasonality of our system accommodates the chickens during their most comfortable growing time. It ensures that we have plenty of grass for them to eat. It also ensures that the ground behind them has plenty of time to soak in the nutrients left behind (no need for Polyface to apply fertilizers here!) and strengthen the earth.

Outside of growing and processing broilers for your own family, we're firm believers that choosing Polyface broiler chickens is one of the very best choices you can make for yourself, your family, and the Earth we've been given to live on. I encourage everyone I meet to come to Polyface sometime during summer and see this amazing (yet simple) system for raising the best chicken on earth.

Live well,

Hannah

broiler

Chicken

seasonal

Why Choose Fermented Foods?

My grandparents on my father’s side used to make sauerkraut in wooden barrels in the basement. My mother’s side made cheese and salami. I could smell these concoctions throughout the entire house. Fermenting is part of your national heritage, no matter your family’s country of origin. Alongside nourishing grass-fed/grass-finished pastured meats like Polyface raises, every person should include real fermented foods into their diet. This method of food preservation goes back farther than most realize, reconnecting us with ancient traditions, long before the refrigerator-freezer was invented. Every culture consumed something fermented every day. Here are the reasons why I like fermented foods. Fermentation preserves food without using high pressure, high heat, or chemicals, so it both conserves and increases them. The nutritional value of fermented foods lies mostly in the pro-biotic bacteria that are present, and byproducts of their digestion. The bacteria’s digestive “waste” is a collection of vitamins, enzymes, and co-factors needed for every system of the body. These include: Vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and K2 Superoxide dismutase (SOD, an antioxidant) GTF chromium (assists sugar metabolism) Glutathione (a potent detoxifier) Phospholipids (cell membrane building blocks) Digestive enzymes Beta 1,2 glucans (present in shiitake mushrooms; modulates immune system) Fermentation neutralizes or eliminates these: Phytic acid (present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Enzyme inhibitors (also present in seeds, nuts, beans, legumes) Nitrites Prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) Oxalic acid (binds minerals) Nitrosamines (known carcinogen) Glucosides Probiotics and enzymes in whey neutralize phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, allowing your digestion to access the nutrients in the food. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are delicate molecules with very complex structure and shape. The structure of the enzyme gives it its function. Without structure and form, the enzyme will not do its job of catalyzing biochemical reactions. Without enzymes, biochemical reactions would cease. Enzymes are denatured (unraveled or broken down) by high pressure, high heat, acidic conditions, toxic chemicals, and electrical disturbances. Once denatured, they lose their form and shape, therefore they lose their function. Unlike canning and commercial processing, fermenting occurs at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive. Temperatures above 117 degrees Fahrenheit denature enzymes and kill probiotic bacteria. If you wonder what 117 degrees feels like, it’s the temperature at which you cannot touch an object with your bare hands and hold it for a few seconds. If it’s hot, but you can still touch and hold it in your hand and not pull away, it’s under 117 degrees. This innate protection mechanism (i.e., reflex) prevents your own protein (i.e., skin on your finger) from being denatured. It’s also a good indicator of when your food is hot enough to kill probiotics and denature enzymes. For best results, fermented foods must be eaten raw, never hot or cooked. Fermented foods are safe and protective against pathogens. USDA scientist Roger McFeeters, who oversees a fermentation laboratory, says, “The lactobacilli can number a billion per gram of tissue at the height of fermentation. The bad bacteria can't compete." According to McFeeters, lacto-fermentation has caused no known food-borne illness. "As far as we know, it's been going on for thousands of years. It's perfectly safe.” The sauerkraut that my grandparents made had a layer of raw pork chops embedded in the salted cabbage. When the sauerkraut was done, you could safely eat the pork chops raw! They were pre-digested by the bacteria, and “cooked" by the organic acids in the kraut. Probiotics prevented pathogens from establishing. None of us ever got food poisoning. My grandmother lived to be 100. Fermented foods have anti-carcinogenic properties. They normalize blood pressure and heart rate, help to break down fat in the liver, and maintain healthy systemic pH. And they are quite tasty. In the supermarket, look for fermented foods in the refrigerated section, not on the shelf with canned foods. Shelf-stable canned foods were subjected to high temperatures. The probiotics and enzymes have been denatured. Look for “live cultures” or “live probiotics” on the label. Eat something lacto-fermented every day, like your ancestors did. Just a tablespoon or two of sauerkraut or an ounce or two of cheese is enough to have the desired effect. Choose a salad dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar, or a tablespoon of a fermented condiment such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Try a fermented beverage, like kombucha, beet kvass, or ginger ale. (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon has some great recipes for all of these.) The original condiments were digestive aids. They’re easy to make. Try it. May you be deeply nourished! Susan

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We've had a breakthrough in soy. We've had our chickens checked by energy fields, pendulums, crystals, chromatography...Now we have definitive proof.

Thanksgiving

The older I get, the more grateful I am for my parents who embraced different. Indulge me in a couple of stories from our family's past to illustrate how we relished "maverickness".

Polyface Pastured Broiler Chickens

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