Our birds are pasture-raised which means they live in a well ventilated ‘tractor’ which allows us to move them onto fresh pasture each day. We do this to; protect the chickens from birds of prey, foxes and feral cats. It also helps us manage our pasture and impact on the soil.

We can fit 45 birds in one ‘tractor’ which is 9 square metres of fresh grass each day.

Because of our chicken’s healthy lifestyle and they are fed a fermented grain they don’t require any antibiotics. The breed of chicken is fast growing, but we allow the bird to fully mature to a decent size at its own pace. Therefore we have no need for artificial growth hormones.

We process our birds from 9-11 weeks, that allows the bird to develop strong bones and quality meat. Our chickens end up weighing from 1.8-2.6kgs. In comparison to a commercial raised chicken which is processed at 4-6 weeks.

They are processed at Southampton Homestead, small-scale abattoir where each step is person-operated.

The fat is a rich yellow colour from eating grass and insects. The skin retains its yellow colour as the carcass is not ‘bleached’ in a chlorine concentrate like in a standard industrial system.

They are fed a fermented wet grain mix. This consists of regeneratively grown wheat, barely, triticale, lupins, chickpeas and field peas from Goodies Farm in Kendenup. They are also fed a high protein crumble. As well as spray free pasture and fresh water.

To ensure the right balance of protein and minerals, which is essential for a fast growing bird, they are fed a broilers crumble which we purchase from Redwood and Thompson. The ingredients are on their website under Broilers Crumble. All sorts of health issues arise if they don’t have enough protein and this mix is the perfect balance. You can view the crumble product here.

When we receive our chicks as day olds they have had two vaccines only. One for Mareks and the other for Infectious Bronchitis. They do not need long term vaccines because of their life span. Because we are a poultry business we must comply with biosecurity standards and this is important to us for the security of our business and consideration to other growers. We do not however give them any antibiotics or vaccines from then on and support their health with a clean fresh air environment and fermented grains.