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Throughout the ages, the egg – nature’s perfect package – has been viewed as a symbol of rebirth and renewal and the chicken as the herald of a new day dawning. Domesticated from wild Asian jungle fowl almost 10,000 years ago, the chicken has been one of the most prolific and consistent providers of protein by way of its meat and eggs. In the United States alone, over 8 billion chickens are consumed each year. With growing concerns about food safety and animal welfare rights, there’s a renaissance taking place in the collective conscience of many consumers and notably so in Austin. Confined, industrially-raised chicken is OUT. Pastured and backyard poultry is IN.
Austinites are flocking to farmers’ markets to purchase healthful, sustainable and humanely-raised meats. Additionally, there’s an embryonic evolution of city dwellers that have morphed into urban micro-farmers filled with a yearning to become more connected to their food and participate in the responsible stewardship of our land and animals. Gardeners, foodies and hobbyists have added chickens to their backyard milieu. Some folks choose to raise chickens just for the eggs, a source of soil enrichment as well as a natural weed and pest patrol. Other intrepid individuals have chickens to provide fresh, sustainable and the ultimate in “local” meat for the table. Additionally, backyard chickens can be great fun and a rewarding and educational experience for the whole family.
To learn more, we turned to the experts and attended Dai Due’s Poultry Workshop, led by owner Jesse Griffiths and pastured poultry and egg producer Jeremy Barnwell of Barnison Farm. A Saturday afternoon was spent in this superb two-part class. Basic housing, along with humane and healthy management and butchering of chickens was followed by the main focus of the workshop – how to cook everything poultry.
Barnwell was a font of information on the husbandry of chickens. On average, four to six chickens are a perfect backyard flock size. Daily egg production averages about three eggs per four hens. No rooster is needed for egg production alone. Realize a rooster inside the city limits is not desirable. Their constant crowing will not please your neighbors and place you in violation of noise nuisance ordinances. Be sure you are purchasing only female birds. With Easter upon us, please resist the temptation to buy those cute colorfully-dyed Easter chicks. Most of them will grow up to become roosters. It’s an easy and profitable way for chicken breeding facilities to get rid of unwanted rooster chicks. So buyers beware!
Predators such as hawks, owls, raccoons, skunks, opossums and even friendly Fido can endanger your flock. You must provide adequate and protective housing. Barnwell offered an ingenious and inexpensive solution for nightly predator control. “Place two red LED lights close together in the coop and connect to a timer. The lights mimic the glowing eyes of a predator. Predators do not like to be present around another predator!” As the old adage goes, it takes one to know one. When asked about chicken coop size, Barnwell stated, “You only need on average of about two square feet per chicken. During the day you can allow your hens to roam, especially if you have a fenced in yard and put your birds in at night.”
Chickens are omnivorous and will eat seeds, tender grasses, weeds, bugs, worms and scraps from the kitchen and garden. “Chickens are smart and very intuitive about what they want and are supposed to eat,” according to Barnwell. Pastured chickens produce eggs and meat that’s low in bad fats and high in omega-3 fatty acids. Research has shown that pastured hens’ eggs contain three-to-six times more vitamin D than eggs produced by industrialized, confined hens. Collectively, the sunlight, fresh air and diversified diet produce tasty and nutritious meat and eggs. Griffiths chimed in: “The reason why pasteurized chicken eggs are phenomenal is because when you feed them greens and organic vegetable scraps they are consuming high amounts of chlorophyll which results in superior eggs. When you crack open a pastured egg, the bright reddish-gold yolk just stands right up. In contrast, an industrially raised chicken – fed only grain and confined – will produce eggs with less nutrients and an anemic yellow yolk.”
Hens will lay eggs throughout the day and each will produce an egg about every 24-26 hours. If you purchase chicks, depending upon the breed, it will take between five-to-seven months before they begin laying eggs. You can supplement your chicks’ and laying hens’ diet with special organic feeds designed to aid in healthy growth and egg production. After two to three years, egg production will begin to taper off fairly dramatically. This will be the time to decide if your chicken goes into the pot or is a pet.
Sadly, industrially-raised chickens lead a short and miserable existence. Barnwell told the grim truth: “When they are so confined and stressed, they will cannibalize each other so their beaks are clipped, a painful procedure. Lights are kept on 24 hours a day. Heavy metals such as arsenic are used as additives in the feed in order to stimulate appetite. They just constantly eat and reach desired weight in eight weeks. I allow my birds to roam in the open air. I supplement-feed them only three times during the day and give them 10-to-12 weeks to reach a dressed weight of three-to-four pounds.” Barnwell’s birds live humane and healthy lives and it shows in the quality of his meat and eggs.
Griffiths is as excellent a teacher as he is a chef. Participants were provided with a lovely spiral-bound Dai Due Poultry Workshop booklet containing all the information and recipes presented in the class and more. Class size is limited so there’s plenty of room and time for each attendee. Griffiths deftly demonstrated the following techniques: how to make a stock, a classic way to cut up a whole chicken, how and when to brine and the proper ways to bread, braise and fry poultry. Duck breasts, whole quail, gizzards and a terrine were also prepared. The best part is you get to taste it all! A perfect example of Griffiths’ command of his subject was his show-stopping succulent roasted chicken.
“Everybody has their own way to roast a chicken,” began Griffiths. “You ask a lot of cooks how to do this and they will say you have to do it their way.” Griffiths paused, gave a sly grin and stated emphatically to his rapt audience. “They are all wrong! This is the only way!” Laughter rang out and in the end he was right. Griffiths’ steps were simple and produced a superbly succulent bird. (See infobox above.)
Which exactly came first – the chicken or the egg? That’s an age-old debate. But here there should be none. Those of us who are omnivores should champion humane and ethical animal husbandry methods as practiced by farmers such as Jeremy Barnwell. We should learn from teachers such as Jesse Griffiths on how best to source our foods locally, prepare them with care and conscientiously utilize as much of the animal as possible. In this way we honor their gift of sustenance to us. By purchasing our meat and eggs from local responsible farmers or starting a small backyard flock, we can begin to connect ourselves and our children closer to the creatures that nourish us. Perhaps the chicken will become the lasting symbol of a renewed stewardship filled with caring and concern for the animals that grace our communal table.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Recipe
Dai Due’s Divinely Roasted Chicken
1 3½-to-4 pound chicken
Brine the chicken for 12-24 hours prior to roasting.
Brine Recipe
1 gallon water
1 cup of salt
Optional additions to the brine:
¼ cup of honey, molasses, maple syrup or sugar. (Note: This helps to flavor and caramelize the skin.)
bay leaf
garlic
peppercorns
herbs
citrus
Bring the water and salt to a boil with any of the optional ingredients. Cool completely, then refrigerate. Once cold, add the chicken and brine for 12-24 hours. Turkeys can brine for 24 hours. Do not over brine! You risk having a much too salty bird. Quail or smaller birds should only brine for 6-10 hours.
Roasting Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dry the chicken very, very well with towels or in front of a fan. Season the bird very generously with salt and pepper and optional chopped herbs such as thyme, savory, rosemary and sage. Season the cavity as well. Place the bird – breast facing towards the back of the oven – directly on the oven rack with a pan underneath on a rack below (Here you can be creative. Place potatoes, mushrooms, onions, parsnip on this pan) and roast for about 50 – 60 minutes without opening the oven, except to stir the vegetables underneath to keep them from scorching. When the juices in the cavity run clear and not pink, the chicken is done. Allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes. This is an important step to keep the meat succulent. Serve with the vegetables and lettuces tossed with some of the drippings from the pan.
Pasture Raised Poultry and Egg Purveyors and Feed Sources
Countryside Farm – Sebastian Bonneau – Using the traditional hands-on husbandry practices of his native France, Bonneau raises pastured chickens and duck along with turkey and pheasant in smaller quantities. Also available are wild boar, rabbit, goose and rooster. Visit his booth at the Austin Farmers’ Market Downtown on Saturdays and the Austin Farmers’ Market at the Triangle on Wednesdays. 512.363.2310.
Alexander Family Farm – Kim Alexander – One of the models for sustainable animal husbandry in Central Texas. A source for chicken, eggs and beef as well chicken feed. Call to place orders – 423.367.1882
Buck Moore Feed and Supply – 5237 N. Lamar Austin, TX 512.451.3469 – Carries Coyote Creek Mill’s locally grown organic chicken feeds.
Sources for Chicks
Callahan’s General Store
501 Bastrop Hwy, Austin, TX 78741
512.385-3452
Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc.
For online catalog and information on how to order visit the website
www.ideal-poultry.com
Suggested Reading
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow – Storey Publishing
How to Build Animal Housing by Carol Ekarius – Storey Publishing
The River Cottage Cookbook and The River Cottage Meat Book both by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – Ten Speed Press