Helbert's

All Natural    Old Fashioned    Home Grown

FRESH  PASTURED  CHICKEN

Values vs Costs!

Our Pastured Chicken
Commercial Chicken
LOW STRESS LIVING CONDITIONS
HIGH STRESS LIVING CONDITIONS
  Live in species appropriate flocks (75 or fewer)   Grown in huge factory houses (20,000 typical)
  Uncrowded   Crowded
  Fresh, clean air   Air loaded with fecal dust and ammonia
  Fresh, living forage always available   No access to green material, bugs or nature's foods
  Free to exercise   Severely crowded to limit exercise (increases fat content)
  Vigorous, healthy, disease resistant birds   Problems masked by drugs and chemical additives
  Beneficial bacteria aid healthy immune system   Antibiotics depress immune system, harm intestinal flora
  Brooder and pens open to fresh air and sunlight   Closed brooder and grow-out houses
  Natural Trace minerals   Trace minerals manufactured and acidulated
  Unvaccinated   Vaccination depresses immune system
  No artificial lighting (for a good night's sleep)   Electric lighting 24/7 to maximise feed intake
  No antibiotics   Routine antibiotics
  No appetite stimulants   Routine appetite stimulants (arsenic) 
  No synthetic vitamins   Routine synthetic vitamins 
  No debeaking (no cannibalism)   Debeaked (cannibalism in factory conditions)
  Production follows natural seasonal cycle   Grower a slave to year round business interests
PROCESSING
PROCESSING
  Locally grown and processed   Routinely trucked across the country
  Careful hand evisceration   Machine evisceration (spills feces on carcass)
  Nothing injected or added at any time   Injection of dyes, preservatives, tenderizers, water, etc.
  Carotid artery and jugular vein cut, causing 
  85-90 percent blood loss in 10-20 seconds		   Electrical stunning stops heart, thus impeding 
  removal of blood.  Clots often remain in meat.
  No routine chlorine baths   Numerous routine chlorine baths
  No irradiation   Irradiation compromises vitamin content
  Each and every bird inspected  by grower prior to sale   Taxpayer provides bureaucratic sampling inspection
  Customer always welcome   Customer never sees what goes on


ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL IRRESPONSIBILITY
  Offal composted and returned to land as fertilizer
  for plants during growing season
   Offal cooked and fed back to chickens 
  as protein supplement
  Low process water consumption   High process water consumption
  Effluent used to irrigate growing plants 
  or to aid composting		   Effluent treated as waste water (sewage)
  Contaminates groundwater
  Manure converted directly to growing plants   Manure fed to cattle or applied to land 
  inappropriately
  No contribution to antibiotic resistant "super-bugs"   Routine use of antibiotics in livestock feed
  gives rise to drug resistant pathogens 
  We clean up after ourselves.   Factory farming practices foul the air, water and 
  beauty of The Shenandoah Valley.
HIDDEN BENEFITS
HIDDEN COSTS
  Decentralized (small, local) food system   Centralized (large, multinational) food system
  Promotes small farming   Promotes giant factory farming
  Fosters entrepreneurial spirit   Fosters wage/time clock employment
  Price includes true production costs   Taxpayers loose when government cleans up mess
  Customer/producer relationships fostered   Customers alienated from producers
CONSUMER OBSERVATIONS
CONSUMER OBSERVATIONS
  Low fat content   High fat content
  10% maximum shrinkage in cooking   20% carcass weight loss in cooking typical
  Firm, toothsome texture   Soft, fatty texture
  Rich, delicious flavor   Bland, nearly tasteless
* Farm Fresh: Customer knows processing date   "Sell by" date only "suggests" freshness
  Fresh does not mean "Frozen"   Previously frozen birds legally called "Fresh"
  Highest value   Lowest value
  A bargain!   Not a bargain at any price!
* Customers are encouraged to come to the farm on processing day to pick up their birds, and should refrigerate them overnight for maximum tenderness.  (Extremely fresh birds may become tough if cooked before full removal of all body heat).

Table inspired by a similar one by Joel Salatin in Pastured Poultry Profits, 1999, Polyface, Swoope, pp. 311-314.
Note:  Commercial and certified organic chickens often share many of the problem practices listed at right above.                       © Paul Helbert 2003-2004

Fresh pastured chickens and lambs available in season

Lambs:  Fall, Winter, Spring
Chickens: Late spring, Summer, Early Fall

Paul Helbert
12558 North Valley Pike
Tenth Legion, VA 22815
(540) 896-7107
 e-mail
 Frequently Asked Questions: http://home.rica.net/phelbert/chickens