Grain fed chicken? [General]

2009 May 13
I need somebody to 'splain something to me.

I just read Bdm's review of B/side resto- nice review BTW. It specifies "grain fed" chicken. What the heck else do you feed chicken? I thought grain was a given.

(Pan, climbing back up on the turnip truck she just fell off...)

2009 May 14
This might help: www.chicken.ca

One chicken farmer I know uses strictly grain - no bone meal, etc.

2009 May 14
Spending some of my youth working
on a small farm. A happy chicken
would be a "range-fed" chicken.
You know, where they scratch around the
barn yard looking for bugs and worms
etc. Ever have an egg from a range-fed
chicken?

2009 May 14
Not sure if this is still common practice, or even legal anymore: Chickens only partially digest what they eat, in some chicken farms they recycle the poop and re-feed that to the chickens... Also some farms feed their chickens/pigs/cows with a mix containing animal by-product..Again, not sure if that is still legal. But it explains the "grain fed" only claim.

2009 May 14
Yeah, what frank said. Range fed chickens are 'natural' chickens. They'll even eat weeds - check out the photo from one of the blogs I follow (cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/). In my book "grain fed" normally means 'unsustainable' and 'unethical'. i.e. 'factory farmed'. Though at least with chickens grain is a natural part of their diet, unlike cows. So it is more in the right direction.

2009 May 14
p.s. "Grain fed" is one of those instances were marketers have taken something that normally should be undesirable to the consumer, and turned it around to make it desirable. Pretty ingenious of them really (and precisely the opposite can be said for those who fall for the ploy)

2009 May 14
Thanks for the explaination!