I picked up a copy of the Jan/Feb issue of Hobby Farms magazine today. In the Reader Resume section, a monthly feature on well, a reader, I found this gem. Thanks, Ike Johnson, for making me laugh out loud.
Free-range sounds so pure and wholesome when you are buying poultry for the table, but in practice, it is a constant carpet of crap.
6 comments:
Haha!
I had free-range chicken last night that wasn't yours and didn't taste like it'd been frog-marched across the Plains whilst being fed bugs.
Didn't know such a bird existed. I don't know what they do with free-range chicken, but all the "non-corporate" chicken I've had other than yours has been... disappointing.
But this one was good.
Some free-range chicken doesn't get much grain. They have to search for every bite, whiwch works their muscles more and makes them tougher. Some free-range people insist on using heritage breeds, which aren't big enough to butcher until 5-6 months old.
I compromise. Mine would be better termed "pastured," or "penned." They get grain, but get to scratch and pick on the ground. (The grain has no hormones or animal proteins.) Their "range" is limited to the size of the pen, so they don't work those muscles as much as other birds that are properly called free-range. They're ready to butcher at 8-10 weeks.
Sounds like a good middle ground, the way you do it.
Hey, we had Peterman's Perfect Pork tonight! Yum!!! Was it free-range?
Peterman's Perfect Pork is pastured/penned, just like the chickens. No hormones/antibiotics/animal products in the grain, but they do get grain. They play in their pen, digging in the dirt, eating grain and hay, with some garden scraps and older eggs thrown in, and those pigs had some goat milk, too. They're happy little piggers through the summer. Miss Mary even goes out regularly to give them pig showers; they love to have water from the hose sprayed on them when it's hot. They're kinda spoiled, but they get big enough and ornery enough that we're glad to see them go in the fall!
Which cut did you finally eat?
Pork shoulder Steak, I believe.
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