Pasture raised meat and eggs - becoming a rarity

Having owned chooks in one of our previous properties, we have some of an understanding of what good animal care is all about.  They taught us well.  On a cold frosty morning in Tasmanian's winter (and summer sometimes) I would take out a bowl of warmed oats for the team which was greatly appreciated on the icy ground.  Our chooks were pets and we had the more colourful varieties of bantams, whyandotte etc.  They were good at providing us enough eggs and keeping the grasshoppers from our veggie patch which came in plague proportions one year to their delight.  They were also dynamite on huntsman spiders - another great reward!!  Our neighbour's standard Isa Brown's known for their egg production eventually evolved into a more colourful variety complete with bouffant head feathers thanks to our free ranging and very neighborly tribe.  Sorry about that guys!  I was reminded of these days at Saturday's visit to Bungendore's southern harvest farmers market.  We got chatting with a farmer from Braidwood who's love and care for chemical, free range pasturing is not only heartbreakingly expensive to maintain but subject to the odd bit of corporate pressure to change her chemical free ways.  It's sad to see that chickens raised as an animal and the not just a cheap product is becoming a rarity.  For anyone who is keen to eat chickens that are free to walk pastures, scratch for grubs, roll around in the dirt having a dust bath (so good for them) and get to live beyond 12 weeks will know the difference.  Unfortunately the real cost of raising animals is so difficult for growers to make ends meet with competition in mass production resulting in poor quality cheap chooks that are bathed in bleach (yummo) and fed...well, who knows what!  My own chickens, although I never ate them (and they were pleased about that), taught me that happy, stress free animals is a pure joy to experience.  I do really care about the poor quality of meat these days because I'm old enough to remember what good meat used to taste like.  Before feedlots and finishing was a thing.  Anyway I'm proud to say Monday night's roast will be provided by a family who care about animals and what we put on our tables.  I took one of their cards, Branch & Burrow, Braidwood NSW selling pasture raised meat and eggs.  Well done guys!
 

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