The Grassland Poultry difference
at a glance
| Grassland Poultry | Conventional Free Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of chicken | We breed our own heritage Sommerlad birds on the farm. These birds grow at a natural pace (slow by comparison to conventional meat birds), and are well-suited for all Australia’s extreme seasons. | Use Ross or Cobb breed fast-growing genetics, developed for shed raring not free range. |
| Age when processing | 10-14 weeks | 5-6 weeks |
| Flock size | Less than 600 | Up to 50,000 |
| Access to outdoors | 24 hours per day | 8 hours per day |
| Shed lighting | Natural light | Up to 20 hours of light provided per day |
| Feed | 24 hour access to forage in Box Gum grassy woodlands and free-choice system of a crumble & whole grains. No medications (antibiotics) are used. | Not disclosed |
| Shelter | Purpose-built mobile shelters | Stationery sheds |
| Processing | No chemicals or chlorinated water used. Water is treated with ultra- violet light and is chemical free. The birds are air-chilled for 24 hours before packaging so there is no water in the bags. | Chill baths in chlorinated water and chlorinated water used in the wash down. Birds are packed straight from these baths into bags. |
| When cooking | No weight loss. | Weight loss when cooking can be up to 10% moisture loss due to water intake in the processing. |
| End product | Firmer texture due to being active foragers and long growing time. Deeper flavour, great fat, the most amazing skin and moist, flavoursome meat. Stronger bones and cleaner tasting offal. | Softer textured meat and bones due to shorter growing time, meat tents to dry out in the cooking process, with less flavour. |
