Farm-fresh eggs, heritage meats, and seasonal produce — available at Gainesville area farmers markets

“Sage and Ginger (spicy)” has been added to your cart. View cart

Pasture Raised Whole Cornish Chicken

Price range: $26.13 through $33.25

Pasture raised whole cornish chickens. Rotated daily to fresh pasture with a grain and soy ration to complete their nutrition requirements. Please note we only raise cornish one to two months per year when Freedom Rangers are not available.

weight

Clear

*MRP (inclusive of all taxes). More information

Pasture Raised Freedom Rangers

Why we choose Freedom Rangers? Freedom Rangers are an ideal breed for raising on pasture due to their healthy, active, and robost nature. This practice results in better animal welfare and superior meat quality compared to conventionally raised birds.

What are Freedom Rangers?

The Freedom Ranger is a hybrid broiler chicken with genetics that originated from the French Label Rouge free-range program. Unlike the fast-growing Cornish Cross, Freedom Rangers have a more moderate growth rate, reaching market weight in about 9 to 13 weeks. This slower growth allows them to develop stronger bones and a more robust constitution, making them better suited for a pastured life.

Benefits of raising Freedom Rangers on pasture

- Superior meat quality: The varied diet of grass, insects, and other forage, combined with the exercise they get from roaming, results in meat that is flavorful and has a firmer texture. Pastured Freedom Rangers also tend to have a higher ratio of dark meat.
- Enhanced nutrition: Pasture-raised meat is more nutrient-dense. Freedom Rangers raised on pasture produce meat with higher levels of omega-3 fats and less saturated fat than birds raised in confinement.

Better animal welfare: Pasturing allows chickens to engage in natural behaviors like foraging, scratching, and dust-bathing. This improves their overall well-being and reduces stress.

Fewer health issues: Because they are more active and less prone to the rapid weight gain of Cornish Cross, Freedom Rangers on pasture have a lower incidence of common broiler health problems like leg and heart issues.

Environmental benefits: Using mobile housing (chicken tractors) and rotational grazing helps to fertilize and improve pasture health. The birds naturally till and fertilize the soil, enriching it with organic matter.

Savor the rich flavor of our pasture raised chickens

More Intense Flavor: The active lifestyle and diverse diet, which includes foraging for grasses, bugs, and seeds, helps develop a more balanced fat-to-muscle ratio. This results in a deeper, more pronounced chicken flavor.

Complex notes The natural diet of pasture-raised birds can introduce nuanced, subtle, and mildly earthy flavor notes that are not found in factory-farmed poultry.

Firmer texture Because pasture-raised chickens get more exercise, their meat can have a firmer, leaner, and more muscular texture than conventional chicken.

Juiciness Despite a lower fat-to-muscle ratio, the meat is often described as juicy and tender, especially the dark meat, because of the higher intramuscular fat content.

Diet A natural, varied diet is the primary factor affecting the taste. Foraging for insects, grasses, and seeds adds complexity that a uniform, grain-based diet lacks.

A Happy, Healthy Bird Raised in a less stressful environment which prevents the release of cortisol, a hormone that negatively affects the meat's tenderness and flavor.