If you aren’t sure you’re ready to consider switching from regular store-bought poultry to pastured poultry, we feel like there are a few health facts you might like to consider. Perhaps they will help you make your decision and if so, great!
Our chickens are kept in roomy pens known as “chicken tractors”, for the express purpose of keeping them safe from predators. These pens are mobile and moved each day, allowing them to forage on fresh “food” and fertilize the pasture at the same time. Pssst….. They aren’t aware that they are helping to improve the soil, but we do.
Initially, many people cited environmental or animal welfare motives for their decision to begin raising poultry on pasture, but recently we have been seeing increasingly more articles being published on the nutritional aspects of pastured poultry. We’d like to make you aware of those today.
Pastured Poultry Contains Less Fat
In the past, nutritional studies have indicated that pasture-raised poultry have about 20% less fat than chickens raised in a conventional manner. Additionally, it has been found that they also have about 30% less saturated fats, which is a far healthier option for you and your family. Our pastured poultry are also completely free from hormones, antibiotics, and steroids, all of which can be found in most commercial poultry choices.
Greater Amounts of Vitamin A Found In Pastured Poultry
Some of those same studies also reached the conclusion that pasture-raised poultry had as much as 50% more Vitamin A than those of conventionally raised chickens. While skin removal results in a more equalized Vitamin A content between the two groups, it’s still a big deal. If you use bone-in, skin-on chicken to create broths for soups and stews, you will get far more vitamin A with a pasture-raised chicken.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Higher In Pastured Poultry
Other studies show that poultry allowed to forage on their own in the wild have greater Omega-3 fatty acid percentages than poultry confined to fixed areas. These healthy fats are absolutely essential to a good diet and proper nutrition.
As you consider what types of poultry to purchase in the future for you and your family, we, at Rafter W Ranch hope this information will help as you make your future food purchases even more healthy. We want only the best for our own family, and want to pass the knowledge on to others who feel the same way.