Chicken & Turkey
Coming soon: Get to know the different ways that poultry is raised in America, including:
- the free-range model
- pasture-based systems
- indoor raising with natural elements provided
If you’re a farmer or food producer raising poultry in one of these ways, tell me what you think people should know about your farming system.
Why is
humanely raised poultry more expensive?
A few possible reasons...
- Room: The more space you provide for a bird, the less space you have for additional birds. Farmers who provide more space than the industry average must therefore charge more per bird.
- Activity: Birds that are given more room to run around in use up more energy, so they eat more food and take longer to grow; this adds to costs for farmers
- Pure food: Organic, arsenic-free, antibiotic-free and non-genetically modified grain all cost more. The farmer must pass all or part of this cost onto the consumer.
- Pasture: Birds on pasture need to be moved every week or few days because chickens are voracious when it comes to grass, bugs and seeds. Moving birds is a major labor cost for farmers.
- Good breeding: The poultry industry has developed breeds that grow very quickly, so that more birds can be sold. Often these breeds develop health problems because they grow so fast. Farmers concerned about humane treatment might choose to raise "heritage breeds" instead; these birds grow more slowly and therefore add to a farmer's costs.