Raising Poultry for Meat

Altamont Farms is introducing a new product: processed whole bird chickens. This aligns with our commitment to offering sustainably farmed and naturally grown products.

In today's market, two breeds of broiler chickens are particularly popular: the Cornish Cross and the Red Ranger, also known as the Freedom Ranger. The Cornish Cross, a hybrid of the Cornish and the White Rock breeds, is the chicken commonly found in grocery stores, known for its white meat, neutral flavor, and abundant breast meat. This breed grows rapidly, reaching market weight within 6-8 weeks.

The Red Ranger, a cross between the Cornish and the Rhode Island Red, grows more slowly than the Cornish Cross, with 10-12 weeks common. The bird is leaner, more flavorful (some would say gamey), and features a firmer texture.

Cornish Cross, courtesy of Hoover's Hatchery

Red Ranger, courtesy of Freedom Ranger Hatchery

For our first foray into meat birds, we opted for the Cornish Cross. Our reasoning is basic: We know the retail market accepts this type of bird for consumption, and with the shorter growing cycle, we can get into the market faster and gather customer feedback.

We are firmly committed to raising our livestock on pasture, where they can access fresh grass, sunshine, and the gentle Florida breeze. This approach offers a humane and healthy path to a product we proudly offer for consumption. However, this approach is not without challenges; the single most significant one is predators. We must provide housing that offers security above all else without sacrificing the amount of space per bird.

Mobile Homes

We built a mobile chicken tractor using a repurposed wire enclosure, a wood frame for rigidity and predator protection, and a custom-made vinyl tarp for protection from the elements. This housing provides security, cover from the elements, 2.16 sq. ft. per bird, and is easily moved daily.

The point about moving is pretty essential in this equation. We move the tractor daily, giving the birds access to fresh grass. In addition to expressing the instinctive scratch-and-peck behaviors, the chickens consume bugs and grass while depositing manure on the soil. This fundamental approach to regenerative agriculture produces healthy pastures without chemical fertilizers.

We take this approach one step further by comingling cattle and chickens in the same pastures. The chickens break up the cow patties in these fields while consuming parasites and bugs in the cow manure. We have noticed remarkable results in as little as 7-9 days as the chicken tractor moves through the pasture.

They Want to Eat

We learned some hard lessons with these birds, the most serious being that they will eat themselves to death—literally. Having raised layer breeds for 20 years, we are accustomed to having free-choice food systems, but with Cornish Cross birds, this is impossible because they will eat until they cannot move.

Cornish Cross is a variety of chicken bred to grow quickly to maturity by converting a high percentage of feed into body mass. Unlike other breeds, they do not have an internal switch to tell them when they have over-eaten, so with continual access to food, they will eat continually and suffer immobility, a buildup of fatty tissue around internal organs, and be prone to sudden death syndrome. We knew this going in, however,, in our research we learned that from day old on through the first week we should offer free-choice feeders. This was a mistake.

We lost chicks early in that first week when they consumed too much food and got crushed when they clustered together because, we hypothesize, they were unable to move. The next cycle of birds will be offered free-choice food for no more than 48 hours and then follow the ration chart we have been using, increasing the amount of food offered each week.

How Much Do We Feed Them?

We follow a ration chart that the birds receive 4.2 ounces of feed per week, graduating to 38.5 ounces of food per week in week 7. The amount we feed them resets each Sunday, and that number is what we prepare each evening for distribution in the AM at first light. We are in week 6, translating to 14.6 lbs of daily feed. The birds are fed in the morning and work off the consumed food over the day, encouraging them to scratch-and-peck on the fresh pasture.

In contrast to layer breeds that transition to a diet containing 16% protein, meat birds continue on a start-to-finish feed with 20% protein from the first day until processing. Our feed supplier, Swan's Feed Mill, delivers a custom blend that effectively results in healthy and strong birds without causing excessive weight gain, which can lead to leg problems and immobility.

They Drink a LOT of Water!

In our first week, I experienced a "we're gonna need a bigger boat" moment with these birds. Our standard protocol is to check the animals from first light to sundown six times daily. I noticed immediately that they consume 300-400% more water than egg layers.

We were refilling the waterers several times a day to keep up with demand, and when it was time to transition to the pasture, I ensured the watering system could last 1.5 days without the risk of running out.

I chose a Bell-Matic watering system from Kuhl for several key reasons. This waterer's design is straightforward and dependable, providing a consistent supply of clean water regardless of what the birds or environmental conditions throw at them. It draws from external reservoirs, in our case, two 5-gallon buckets installed outside the enclosure. This setup allows us to easily monitor and refill the water levels without entering the enclosure. Access to fresh water is critical for all livestock, and we monitor this closely.

Why Are We Doing This?

Poultry is the most widely consumed protein in the USA, with the average American consuming 100 lbs. of chicken annually. What you buy in a grocery store is raised in commercial barns, where up to 50,000 birds are housed per cycle. The protein is healthy, has been hormone-free since the 1950s (the "hormone-free" labeling is just marketing), and the use of antibiotics in the industry has declined considerably.

However, it is estimated that up to 40% of grocery store poultry is "enhanced" before sale by injection with a brine solution to increase plumpness and weight (source: National Chicken Council). We will not alter any poultry we sell.

Ultimately, we believe we can offer a premium product at an affordable price by controlling production and processing. We will begin with whole birds and move into cut-ups, retail cuts offered in less-than-whole-bird quantities. Join our mailing list for updates on these new products.