Questions About the Products

What is a heritage bird? What does Certified Standardbred mean?
Standardbred poultry refers to birds that have been bred according to the American Poultry Association’s (APA’s) Standards of Perfection (SOP). While today these standards are mostly used for poultry shows, SOP was originated to standardize poultry production for market. 

We participate in the APA’s Flock Certification program, which is why we use the term Certified Standardbred. Adhering to the SOP ensures that we are following centuries-old wisdom when breeding our birds, rather than relying on modern hybrids that produce unhealthy birds with low quality meat. 

Heritage is a modern marketing term which refers to Standardbred poultry. If a product is simply labeled heritage without the term Standardbred and specific recognized breeds attached, it is usually not actually a heritage bird.

How should I cook my bird?
We currently have only heritage broilers for sale, and they’re pretty easy to cook. We do recommend you download our recipe for roasting a heritage broiler. This simple recipe  really highlights the amazing flavor difference our birds hold. We’re working on creating a blog with more recipes in the future

When we make heritage roasters and stewing fowl—which modern consumers are not used to cooking—available for sale, we will post about how to cook those unique birds. 

Is your meat fresh or frozen?
All of our meat is vacuum packed and frozen within days of slaughter to maintain optimum freshness. 

Is your meat Kosher for Passover?
Yes, all of our raw, unprocessed meat is Kosher for Passover. For any ground, seasoned, or cooked products, please check the product description for confirmation about Passover certification.

Do you sell wholesale?
If you're interested in purchasing our product wholesale, please contact us.

Why do your birds’ bones and meat look different?
This is due to our birds’ natural genetics. Modern hybrids have had obesity and dwarfism mutations bred into their lines that have deformed their bodies, leaving consumers used to chickens with a huge breast and short, stumpy legs. Our birds are long and slender when young, and bigger with a deep red dark meat when older. They are simply made as God intended. 

Does this meat have more pin feathers than I'm used to?
Our birds may have more pin feathers or they might be a bit more noticeable, for the following reasons:

1. Kosher processing does not allow scalding, which results in slightly more pin feathers being left on the chicken. 
2. While modern hybrids have been bred to have exclusively white feathers, some of our breeds have colored feathers. This means that pin feathers left in the bird may be more noticeable. If this is bothersome to you, we would suggest sticking with our Delawares, as their feathers are almost entirely white.

Is your meat organic?
In our opinion, classifications like organic, pasture raised, slow growing are all nearly meaningless when the birds are not Standardbred. Why? Because you’re starting with industrial hybrids, a sick and compromised bird whose meat is of low quality. Putting these birds outside or providing marginally better feed cannot change what they are.

Organic-raised chickens and turkeys are almost always raised in confinement in giant warehouse-style structures with little-to-no access to pasture. Organic birds with pasture access struggle with the rigors of the outdoor environment. These birds are processed in 6 weeks and are the very same industrial hybrids used by the non-organic industry. Additionally, organic feed is prohibitively expensive, tends to not be local, and organic standards themselves have become highly compromised by weak USDA regulation.

For all these reasons we do not use USDA certified organic feed, though we have much higher standards in nearly every other aspect  than any organic chicken operation in existence. 

Why is your meat more expensive?
Our birds take about three-times longer to grow, and 50-100% more feed per pound of weight gained than any other poultry on the kosher market. As a small producer, our costs must be distributed over fewer birds. Lastly, our production is much more intensive then other producers, as our breeding is done exclusively in-house. While this means our meat is much more expensive to produce, our customers all agree that the product they get is well worth it—just as good as a high-end steak and at half the cost.