Organic Chickens

In the UK, we now eat more chicken than any other meat. Which means the production of chicken has become more and more industrialised to keep up with demand. At The Organic Butchery, the welfare of our chickens is critical to us, and that means saying a very firm no thank you, not ever, to factory farmed birds. We rear our chickens in a free-range, organic environment and to the highest welfare standards. That means the birds have the freedom to roam outdoors during the day, with the shelter and safety of houses at night and in bad weather.

Our Hubbard 57 chickens are 100% organic. Under the current Soil Association standards, chicks can be taken from a conventional system providing they are less than 3 days old and reared organically to 70 days. We wanted to go one step further to stick to our ethos in supporting other organic producers, so we source our chicks from an organic breeding flock meaning they are certified from birth. We never use antibiotics on our chickens because our organic farming system provides a natural environment for our birds to thrive without the need for preventative medication: room to roam, a naturally foraged balanced diet, clean water and high hygiene standards.

Outdoors we create natural shade with foraged twigs and branches from the surrounding trees and hedges, which also provide protection from birds of prey. Their favourite activities are chasing flies and having natural dust baths in the dirt. When the birds are housed in the evening to protect them from predators, they have perches to naturally roost on and straw bedding to rummage in. Coloured balls and old CDs hang from the ceiling, and the chicks love to chase the light that is reflected across the shed. The chickens are grown slowly for approximately 70 days. In intensive systems, which rely heavily on genetic breeding and antibiotics, birds are ready at just 35 days. We believe the slow approach is better for the welfare of our birds, and results in the delicious flavour you can try for yourself.