Ethical Heritage Pullets

Most backyard layers come with a heavy pricetag, which more often than not includes the cost of killing the pullet's brother when it was a day-old chick, and then tossing the baby into the garbage. Our farm feels there is a more ethically sound way to enjoy the benefits of eggs. If consumers want to enjoy eggs from heritage hens without supporting baby killing, then they need to help support a more responsible utilization of the male side of each hatch. For this reason, I sell my pullets only as pairs. I can sell the rooster alive, or as frozen meat, customer choice. The pullets are $20 each and the heritage poultry meat is $4 a pound. We are organic and the birds are naturally pastured. We are currently taking orders for sales in September.

Excellent idea. As proponents of heritage poultry, we all need to find ways to put the value back into the male side of the chicken equation. True sustainability can only happen when consumers (and the general public) once again begins to recognize and value ALL of the aspects of heritage chickens...not just as backyard egg layers.

Yep, I also love this idea.

Novel idea Wayne. I guess if you're getting a point of lay pullet and a bro for 20.00. But not everyone wants or can have roosters.
We've been raising our roosters up to point of crowing, then we butcher them. We take the usable meat , breasts, thighs and drumsticks, and freeze it. Then take the carcasses put them in a roaster with carrots, celery, onions, and herbs roast for a few hours then put in water and simmer. When the stock is done strain and can in sealers. It's healthy, and great for soups, gravies, sauces, stir fries etc.

debbiej wrote: I guess if you're getting a point of lay pullet and a bro for 20.00.

Well the point of lay pullet is $20. The bro is $4 a pound (processed) which ends up being anywhere between $16 and $22.


Let's see if I can link to a Bro picture.

https://buyselltrade.ca/BSTImages/ethical_heritage_pullets_231711_cyyewmtmye.jpg

Ah, point taken. You should have said that when you sell a point of lay hen that you at the same time sell a PROCESSED male, that would make it seem more sense. As I do so agree with Debbiej. If I only sold a female with a live male, I would have no poultry sales. But processed, quite likely would happen. You have something good going on and that is good too. Personally, I keep all the males and grow the up for our own table. We have three families that we provide this meat for (my children and spouses and kids), so all our males do get used up. I absolutely do not destroy male chicks, they to me are as important as their female counterparts. But....some will totally disagree with you, and that too is their choice. But now I ask, what do you do if someone does not want to have a heritage breed bird to have for their dinner table? Not sell them a point of lay pullet? To me, that would be pointless. Some people might not like chicken, or take that even further, vegetarian? Good topic though, and I commend you for trying to encourage the worthiness of the male bird. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM wrote:  But now I ask, what do you do if someone does not want to have a heritage breed bird to have for their dinner table?  

There are plenty of pullet sources for those that want to support needless baby killing.

My mandate is to defend food security and more importantly, food sovereignty through sustainable conservation of heritage poultry and crops. I sell healthy food. I do not consider live bird sales to be a viable part of my business plan, they are just a spin-off product. If they can help attract new food customers, then great, if not, then I don't need them.

Cynthia, I don't need to sell to all who want my products. Not all customers are right, not all customers are capable of supporting my farm. I'm trying to run a viable business here, not some social cause. For this reason, if a customer only wishes to exploit my efforts rather than genuinely support them in a sustainable way, I don't need them as customer. I consider egg/pullet consumption without heritage meat consumption to be exploitation. It does not support meaningful heritage conservation.

I treat egg sales the same as pullet sales. The demand for my eggs far exceeds anything I could hope to sell. I have a sign on my market table telling my egg customers that they need to eat more meat if they want more eggs. My chicken egg customers are still wanting for eggs, but I have plenty of chicken in the freezer.

Wayne, I admire that in you and wish you the best, it sounds like you have a great thing going on there and just fantastic. Personally, it is not for me. But then if we all worked the same and did the same stuff, now wouldn't this world just be a very mundane and boring place. Good for you, keep it up and it so wonderful to hear that you are having a very successful time with your ethical goals, keep on keepin' on!! Have a most awesome and beautiful day, CynthiaM.

I am a little surprised you can't sell your heritage poultry for $4/lb. At that price if the frozen birds are professionally processed. I don't expect you will make much money at that price but you should cover your costs.

I have not linked my pullets to my roosters the way you have but I also believe people need to understand that for every pullet there comes a cockerel. I sell non breeding quality pullets to laying homes where I can but I am equally able to market the cull roosters at 4/lb.

This year all my cull standard bred pullets found homes and roosters were pre-sold for meat.

yes, I'm glad we are all different and providing differing flavours to the community. I fully realize ethics is an individual thing and we will all draw lines in different places.

Poplar Girl, my experience was the same as your's when I lived in Victoria. My roosters were gone before getting to the freezer. Victoria has a very strong ethnic community and that really helped. Qualicum is very different. As an Albertan, this may make sense to you. I have found there are two types of Albertans, those that stay in Alberta when they retire and those who retire to Vancouver Island. The vast majority of the customers the QB Farmers market attracts are retired Albertans. Now your heritage chicken customers, are they the type that will stay in Alberta or will they be relocating to Van Isle for retirement

Omega Blue Farms wrote:yes, I'm glad we are all different and providing differing flavours to the community. I fully realize ethics is an individual thing and we will all draw lines in different places.

Poplar Girl, my experience was the same as your's when I lived in Victoria. My roosters were gone before getting to the freezer. Victoria has a very strong ethnic community and that really helped. Qualicum is very different. As an Albertan, this may make sense to you. I have found there are two types of Albertans, those that stay in Alberta when they retire and those who retire to Vancouver Island. The vast majority of the customers the QB Farmers market attracts are retired Albertans. Now your heritage chicken customers, are they the type that will stay in Alberta or will they be relocating to Van Isle for retirement

I do understand where you are coming from 100%. My customers are actually true Albertans who will likely retire here. The demographic is mostly people from a rural background that understand farming and raising animals but either no longer live on a farm/acreage or no longer choose to raise animals as they are older. But they still remember and appreciate the taste and (to a limited extent) would rather eat farm raise rather than factor raised.

If I lived closer to Edmonton I could tap into the other market you speak of, raise my price, and truly make raising heritage poultry worth my time. For now I am happy to cover costs and see all my culls go to layer homes or someone's table.

What you are doing to try to educate people is a good thing, over time I hope more people will begin to get it even if they need to be educated one at a time! It's really important people not sell their farm products at a loss or adjust their ethics to suit what society wants as that just makes the problem worse. An understanding of the true cost of producing healthy, sustainable, and ethical food is something so many people are clueless about and really is something each of us that knows better should try to help remedy.

A funny thing happened yesterday. Well it started a few days ago when I put the same ad up on Craigslist. Yesterday at the Farmer's Market, two separate people came to my stall, mentioning the ad. They were hoping I would be willing to sell them roosters without the pullets. LOL.

Apparently Coq au Vin is a dish regaining fashion but conventional chicken doesn't work so well. To do the recipe justice, the cook needs a good old fashioned rooster. LOL.

My sis-in-law says that old roosters well for a premium in Quebec where the art of slow food still thrives. Today I am making chicken stew with buttermilk biscuits. The chicken in question is a two year old LF Cornish that I eliminated from my breeding program this spring. His drumsticks are enormous and his thighs are the size of my two fists together. The dark meat is a rich and healthy red and I expect to be stewing him for a couple hours into tender juiciness!

Wayne, I followed your link, the carcass is impressive.   It looks like you have achieved what you were looking for in your breeding program. Congratulations
I've been looking for years for a dual purpose breed. Everyone so far has fallen short of the promise of dual purpose. By the look of your carcass if your hens are good layers, you have successfully bred a true dual purpose bird.

Wonderful Omega, that is just nice to hear. I think there is a huge movement to the understanding of how good a bird that is raised for months tastes, one that has had a chance to get flavour into the meat, and this only comes with age, and if there is the option of bugs and greens too, wow, look at them now! I love the flavour of the roosters that we eat, and so does my youngest Daughter and her family. Just can't get that same flavour from the birds that live such a short life to get to a mature size. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.