Pastured Chicken

French Prairie Farm's goal is to produce a bird with old fashioned texture and succulent flavor as well as the nutritional benefits of concentrated nutrients due to grass consumption.  We select breeds of chicken that have some "chicken sense", that chase bugs, scratch in the mulch and peck the dewy grass, just like the ones that Grandma cooked up for Sunday dinner.  They receive plenty of fresh air, sunshine and room to run and flap their wings.

      The typical industrial supermarket chicken was designed to be raised in close confinement, fed medicated feed to help them cope with the stress.  Packed in like sardines and standing on their own filth, modern broiler houses have a stench that permeates the air all around them.  We gag when we drive by these on the roads, from even a quarter mile away.  Unlike the commercial chicken houses that dot the Arkansas countryside, our chickens do not create air pollution.  Visitors may walk out among them and never notice any smells other than fresh air and green grass.

     Above you see broilers pecking on fresh grass.  The birds live on grass and are moved to a fresh spot of pasture every few days.  The manure is spread out that way, not concentrated in one area.  This allows a more natural, environmentally-friendly habitat.  The grass gives elevated levels of CLA into the meat.  For more information about why grass is best, please also visit our What is Pastured? and Nutritional Advantages pages. 

    Unlike ruminants, chickens can not live on grass alone.  Besides what they can scrounge for themselves and the green grass, we offer plenty of organic, GMO-free grain with an organic vitamin and mineral supplement, and kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps.  For those who prefer their birds soy-free, we offer some of those as well.  They are priced higher because they take much longer to reach maturity, thus eating about 50% more feed.  Organic feed is not cheap, nor easy to acquire!

          In the foreground of this picture, you see a white fence.  This is our portable electric netting which surrounds the area in which the birds live.  The netting has small enough divisions to keep the chickens inside the fence, and the height and electricity of the fence keeps predators out.  Due to the portable nature of this fence, it is easy for Gerald to pick up and move when it is time to open up a new section of fresh pasture.  The rotation of the poultry through the pasture spreads out the manure, encourages new plant growth by grazing then allowing to rest, and gives the chickens fresh tender grass instead of forcing them to eat only stalks if they were kept on the same patch of ground all the time.  They also get fresh air and sunshine by living out in the open.

      This is our "chicken tractor" which Gerald and his dad Lewis built.  In the above picture, it is being used as a brooder for the tiny chicks.  The feed and water is in the front part, then heat lamps are behind the partition for warmth.  The chicks are free to go back and forth as needed.  The top is covered for wind and rain protection, as well as the sides of the rear section. When the chicks get old enough to leave the brooder, it is moved to the pasture, the electric netting goes up all around, and the chicken tractor becomes a shelter from rain and the midday sun with its sides removed.

      Our last batch of chicks have arrived (August 2009) and will be ready in October.  We have many customers who have already pre-ordered broilers (secured by a $5 deposit per bird) and our current batch will be ready for processing soon, then another batch in about 3 more weeks after.  We are close to selling out of that batch, so further orders will be reserved for the October processing.  We fill orders on a basis of who pre-ordered first.  Place your pre-orders now, as we will not raise more broilers (after this one finishes) until Spring.  We raise broilers only from Spring through early Fall, so be sure to order extra to stock up for the winter.  We will have a few left in the freezer, but it's best to pre-order to ensure you get as many as you need.  To pre-order, call us, email us, or visit with Gerald at one of the farmers’ markets (Ft. Smith Tuesday mornings, Greenwood Friday mornings) .  If you want soy-free chickens, you must specify that when you pre-order;  otherwise we will assume that you want our regular broilers.