A MEAT CHICKEN BRED FOR FREE RANGE AND PASTURE

With most animals there is choice of different breeds for different situations eg. Brahman or composite cattle are used primarily in the top end of Australia and Brittish breeds like Angus are used in the cooler climates. Breeds of sheep like Dorpers from South Africa have different atributes to Brittish breeds. With meat chickens there is usually only one choice, commercial meat chickens. Commercial meat chickens have been bred for rapid growth and very large breasts. To fully utilize free range and pasture we believe a bird where all parts of their body grow at the same rate helps them to forage, explore, work the soil and thrive in hot or cold weather is a bird well suited to free range and pasture.                              

 

A MEAT CHICKEN BRED FOR REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Regular movement of poultry on to fresh pasture improves soil health and it really helps if you have a bird that really moves. The Joyces Gold birds are very active and love to forage, explore and work the soil.. Manure fertilizes the soil and pastured poultry regenerates pasture. 

 

A MEAT CHICKEN BRED FOR FLAVOUR

The longer you can grow out the birds the more flavour they have. The Joyces Gold birds are grown out to a minimum 14 weeks much longer than the usual 5 - 6 weeks of commercial meat chickens. The other important factor with flavour is the birds diet, " half the breeding is in the feeding" was one of Billy Joyce`s (founder of Heritage Poultry) favourite sayings. Our birds are fed a custom made ration which includes rolled corn and lucerne and combined with their amazing foraging ability and access to fesh pasture the birds taste like chickens used to taste.