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Featured organic chicken supplier - Allison Thompson – Smallcombe Farm, Dawlish.
Allison rears sheep and chickens on her farm in the hills above the Exe estuary. Situated at the top of a small combe overlooking the town of Dawlish and the sea, you couldn’t wish for a more idyllic setting. Making a living is another matter altogether so the chickens are a serious business. Allison keeps four flocks of approx 500 birds at any one time meaning she can supply chickens one week in three. They aren’t exactly roosting in trees but as the photos show, they aren’t far off it. Electric fences are to keep the foxes out rather than the chickens in. Allison works closely with Ross Gardner from Otter Valley Poultry who supplies us with approximately half of our organic chickens.
About organic chicken
All our organic chickens are reared to Soil Association standards which stipulate that the birds be kept in flocks of less than 500 birds, be reared to an age of at least eighty one days and that they have access to organic pasture during daylight hours for at least two thirds of that time. The pasture should be left fallow to recover for approximately 50% of the cycle. Obviously the chicken feed must comply with organic standards. Strangely enough this alone will not ensure a quality free ranging chicken. To get this you need a bird which will naturally range and eat grass such as a Hubbard or Sasso. These birds really will roam and much prefer being outside in all kinds of weather (except rain). The only way of getting a broiler chicken such as a Ross Cobb outside is to bribe it with food - and even that isn’t always successful.
Chickens are extremely sensitive animals and the slightest imbalance can have drastic effects - hence the measures of routine antibiotics and debeaking used in conventional mass production of chicken. One of our suppliers reported that when the weather was wet and his chickens didn’t want to go outside they started eating their own feathers. He was able to change the ration slightly to put this right. In general a healthy chicken is a happy chicken.
For more information on organic chickens have a look at www.soilassociation.org/chickens. They have all the answers. Our chickens come from three farmers. They all keep the same strain of Hubbard chickens.
About our three organic chicken suppliers
Tim Hinder - Littons Farm, Sandyway, North Molton, Devon
Tim rears superb organic chickens on the highest farm on Exmoor at 1350 feet above sea level. Workaholic to the extreme, Tim makes all his own chicken houses, looks after beef, sheep, horses and poultry as well as delivering the birds to us at 6am in the morning twice a week. Tim's chickens are fed on a high percentage of prairie meal (maize) which, together with the pigment from grass, gives them a distinctive yellow colour.
Andy Hayllor, Wolfsgrove Farm, Bishopsteignton, Devon.
Andy is one of the founder members of the farmers co-op which supplies the veg box scheme. A traditional livestock, arable/horticulture rotation helps both soil and animals stay healthy. Andy’s chickens are processed at Otter Valley Poultry, near Honiton
Ross Gardner, Spurtham Farm, Honiton, Devon
As well as running a chicken processing business (feathered abattoir) Ross organises a small network of organic growers on traditional mixed farms. These are generally in flock sizes of a few hundred and kept in orchards and other under utilized corners of the farm. They might not be scratching around in the back yard but, all in all, they are about as close to traditional poultry production as you are likely to find.
A note on cooking organic chickens
Despite the fact that, in the flavour stakes, organic chickens leave the broilers way behind, roasting is not always the best way to cook them. The breasts are invariably superb but because they have been well used, the legs can be a little dry, with the result that they need different treatment to the breast meat. Often jointing and casseroling or poaching before finishing off in a hot oven can be the best way to insure 100% succulence. In newsletter 22, 2007, we suggested; “By resting the front of the bird on some carrots and celery I managed to raise it enough so the legs and wings could be covered with water but not the breasts. I added the rest of the usual suspects (half a lemon, a quartered onion and herbs and peppercorns), put on the lid and simmered gently for an hour. Half an hour on a roasting tray at 225°C crisped up the skin and finished cooking the breast with unbelievable results. The white meat (as the Americans call it) was moist and firm enough to slice thinly while the legs were juicy and cooked to a ‘T’. I also got a saucepan of stock, half of which went in the gravy. It has always been my belief that you can’t make a decent stock from a roasted chicken carcass but this way you really can eat and drink your chicken too.” I still think it is a pretty good technique.
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