Labels at the grocery store can get confusing. Farming animals is no different! Let’s take a look at the difference between pasture-raised chicken and organic chicken.
If food is medicine, we better make sure we’re eating the best quality food we possibly can!
So when we go to the grocery store, naturally we are willing to pay a pretty penny for things like “pasture-raised” or “organic.”
However, a consumer may not understand what that truly means! Let’s take a look and make sure we’re making the best possible decisions for our family and our budget.
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What’s the Difference Between Pasture Raised and Organic?
We can best understand what these terms mean when we know what chickens truly need.
Chickens are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and plants. Now, chickens aren’t out scouting other animals their size. Their meat is usually things like bugs, mice, snacks, and other small animals.
It’s so important animals get that protein! It’s what they need to survive and function properly.
If you’re raising chickens, you’re likely supplementing them with feed. If you have your chickens in a confined run, you should be feeding your birds chicken feed since they aren’t foraging.
The feed will make up any gaps in their diet since they don’t have grass, bugs, and other small critters to feast on!
Whatever system you have for raising chickens plus the type of food you provide is what will determine pasture-raised or organic.
Pasture-Raised Chickens
Pasture-raised chickens are chickens raised on grass with access to grubs, grass, and chicken feed.
The feed doesn’t have to be expensive or high-quality. But it does act as a nice supplement to their diet to make sure they’re getting everything they need.
Pasture-raised chickens tend to grow up in a moveable home. Usually called a chicken tractor.
I raise pasture-raised chickens, but they return to a stationary coop after I’ve let them out for the day.
If you’re raising hens this way, they will produce pasture-raised eggs.
If you aren’t raising hens, this is the quality of eggs you’re getting from the grocery store. One of the biggest comparisons is that this allows the chicken to live a life closer to how God intended it.
Standard, white eggs from the grocery store are likely produced by chickens in a cage or a hen house with no access to sunlight or direct fresh air.
In my area, it seems like the color of the eggs determines whether or not the egg is pasture-raised. When you do your research, you find that the color of eggs is actually due to the breed of the chicken.
Brown eggs are not pasture-raised eggs. They come from a chicken that lays brown eggs.
Organic Chickens
Organic chickens are raised similarly to pasture-raised chickens. However, their feed is certified organic and the grass they’re grazing on hasn’t been sprayed with chemicals.
This is the purest form of meat and eggs you can find.
Because there’s so little intervention and such high-quality food, the price of that food is going to be much more expensive!
Quality of food can be the only difference between a chicken that is organic versus pasture-raised. Both types of chicken can be raised in a coop, in a chicken tractor, and on grass.
In sum, both organic and pasture-raised chickens can be considered free-range chickens that are given supplemental feed.
If you’re raising organic chicken for meat, you may find it takes longer to grow a 4 to 5-pound whole chicken. Especially if the primary source of food is pasture grass and food scraps!
There are ways to get around raising chickens with supplemental feed. But it is a quick and easy way to bulk up chickens to get them in your freezer quicker.
Free-Range Chickens
Free-range chickens are not confined to a space. That means they don’t live in mobile shelters. They may be like my chickens, where they’re let out during the day and returned to a coop at night.
According to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), a chicken can be classified as free-range so long as it spends more than 51 percent of its life outside.
The USDA says feedlot meat (animals raised in a confined space with little access to pasture) does not meet this requirement.
Chicken Farming – A Few More Answers
Factory farming any animal is large-scale farming. These producers are dealing with thousands of animals. And requirements may be different for each animal!
Conventionally-raised chicken is also largely the norm. This is why grocery-store prices are so much cheaper than pasture-raised meat from local farmers!
Local farmers aren’t a part of a chain of producers, truckers, butchers, packers, and sellers. They are all of those processes rolled into one!
The second biggest difference between factory farms and local farmers is the quality of life of the animal.
Pasture-raised chickens have access to outdoor space for an unlimited amount of time if the farmer has the proper infrastructure.
These chickens also have access to natural food sources. They also have a diverse diet! Commercially-raised chickens may only get grain that’s likely to be genetically modified.
Locally farmed chickens may be fed feed, but the farmer has the option to provide non-GMO grain and pass the cost on to the consumer. It’s up to us to see that as an investment instead of an expense.
Finally, I’d like to touch on the overall health of the chicken.
Industrial chicken farms don’t have to let their chickens see fresh grass or daylight. If chicken farms aren’t properly circulating air or cleaning their chicken houses, this can increase a chicken’s chance of infection or illness.
We know chickens have sensitive sinuses. The dust from shavings, dander from chicken feathers, and poop from the chickens can all irritate them!
Now don’t get me wrong – purchasing locally-raised chicken meat or chicken eggs is a significant change! The strength of the yolks may be different and the meat may have a rich flavor.
Not to mention the change to your budget! Pasture-raised animals tend to be more expensive.
What Do Chickens Need to Eat?
The majority of feed sacks will have percentages for protein and calcium ratios for your chickens. But what does that mean?
Chickens need protein, especially in their youth, for growth, feather development, and egg production. Calcium is a close second to protein because it strengthens the bones and eggshells of your laying hens.
Both are vital for a chicken’s development!
However, so is grit (rocks), water, vitamins, and minerals. For example, vitamin E can help egg production, nerve development, and immune systems. Fatty acids are important for laying hens because they can affect the ability of her hatch rates!
Please hear me when I say – you don’t need to use supplemental feed to meet the nutritional needs of your chickens!
If you make your feed or prefer to supplement with treats, something like flaxseeds can get a chicken the fatty acids they need. Pumpkin seeds and dandelion flowers give chickens the vitamin E they need.
You can also remember that it’s not hard to spot a healthy chicken. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:
– Are my chickens pooping normally?
– Are my chickens sneezing, crying, or lethargic? These are all signs a chicken is sick.
– Are my chickens eating frequently? Chickens tend to eat smaller meals all day long.
– Is my chicken getting a balanced diet that meets a variety of needs?
You can easily go in the wrong direction by trying to be overly healthy. If organic feed is too expensive, consider supplementing for what you can afford. Chicken health is important, but so is your budget!
You also need to remember chickens may need supplemental feed to meet their basic dietary needs. It’s romantic to think they can be raised how God intended them to eat – on bugs and grass alone.
But if you’re feeding them treats and they’re attacking each other for them, that may be a sign they’re hungry.
To remedy this, or test to see if it’s the case, give them a feed container. Check on it a few times a day. If there is feed leftover at the end of the day, and you’re already letting them free-range and have snacks, they aren’t hungry. They’re just picky.
What About the Eggs?
I’ve already touched on the difference between brown eggs and white eggs at the grocery store. Brown eggs don’t mean pasture-raised eggs!
Organic eggs do mean that the chicken was raised with organic feed or a pasture that was not sprayed with chemicals. That will guarantee a higher quality product.
Be mindful of this when you’re looking at different egg labels! Pasture-raised does not mean organic. So if you’re striving for an organic diet, you must buy organic eggs!
Where Do I Go From Here?
If you’re here, you are probably diving into raising your chicken or kicking toxins to the curb. Good for you!
As a career journalist, I asked a lot of hard questions to a lot of people. But when I started having children, I realized how loaded with toxins my life was.
My husband was raised on a farm, so we were already purchasing our beef and pork in bulk (you can read more about how to do that here). But it was time to start branching out into better practices.
So I started making my beauty products, gardening, and raising chickens.
I have several blog posts on raising chickens! If you’re just getting started and wondering if you can even raise chickens, this is the blog post for you. If you’re a seasoned chicken keeper, but trying to figure out how to transport them safely, you will want to check out Tips for How to Safely Transport Chickens.
For more homesteading inspiration, find me on Pinterest!
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