Why Pasture-raised Poultry?
The following are some highlights from the web site www.eatwild.com and Jo Robinson’s book Pasture Perfect published in 2004: Chickens and turkeys are good foragers. When chickens are raised on pasture they can get as much as 30 percent of their nutritional needs from insects, grass, clover and other greens; turkeys are better grazers and can glean as much as 50 percent of their calories from pasture. As a result, their meat and eggs are high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin A, folic acid, and carotenoids. Poultry birds also need high quality protein from grains in their diet. A) Health benefits: Less fat, fewer calories: A recent study, funded by the USDA, tested chickens raised on fresh green pasture and compared them with chickens raised in confinement houses. The pasture raised chickens had 21 percent less total fat, 30 percent less saturated fat, and 28 percent fewer calories. The breast meat tested so lean that the USDA could classify it as “fat free”. The meat also had
