Chicken source

[g_trout]

Hello,

Does anyone know where I can get some quality, small farm, chickens at a reasonable price? I got a vegetarian who will only eat meat if the animals are treated well. The ones available at the Strathcona farmers market are ridiculously expensive. About $28 where the Safeway one is $8. I don't mind paying a bit more, and already do for beef and pork, but that is too much.

Thanks in advance.

[Kodiak]

[kevinhits]

Originally Posted by g_trout

Hello,

Does anyone know where I can get some quality, small farm, chickens at a reasonable price? I got a vegetarian who will only eat meat if the animals are treated well. The ones available at the Strathcona farmers market are ridiculously expensive. About $28 where the Safeway one is $8. I don't mind paying a bit more, and already do for beef and pork, but that is too much.

Thanks in advance.

WEIRD....I assume a vegetarian does not eat meat regardless of how well an animal is treated....

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by g_trout

Hello,

Does anyone know where I can get some quality, small farm, chickens at a reasonable price? I got a vegetarian who will only eat meat if the animals are treated well. The ones available at the Strathcona farmers market are ridiculously expensive. About $28 where the Safeway one is $8. I don't mind paying a bit more, and already do for beef and pork, but that is too much.

Thanks in advance.

Are they the same weight?

[g_trout]

he is a bit weird on that. His friends showed him a bunch of "factory farm" videos on youtube and he freaked and and became a vegetarian. I was amazed since 80% of his diet was meat. We showed him an actual family farm and how they almost treat their pigs like family with a lot of care right up until slaughter. Now he feels comfortable eating from there.

[kevinhits]

Originally Posted by g_trout

he is a bit weird on that. His friends showed him a bunch of "factory farm" videos on youtube and he freaked and and became a vegetarian. I was amazed since 80% of his diet was meat. We showed him an actual family farm and how they almost treat their pigs like family with a lot of care right up until slaughter. Now he feels comfortable eating from there.

Either you eat meat or not....Difference of a dedicated Vegetarian

[1899b]

Originally Posted by g_trout

he is a bit weird on that. His friends showed him a bunch of "factory farm" videos on youtube and he freaked and and became a vegetarian. I was amazed since 80% of his diet was meat. We showed him an actual family farm and how they almost treat their pigs like family with a lot of care right up until slaughter. Now he feels comfortable eating from there.

Wierd people can find their own food. Next.......

[jpohlic]

We get ours from the hutterites. I think the last bag came from Mannville colony and was $2/lb for whole fresh chickens. Good sized ones too, between 5-6 lbs each

[josey]

Originally Posted by jpohlic

We get ours from the hutterites. I think the last bag came from Mannville colony and was $2/lb for whole fresh chickens. Good sized ones too, between 5-6 lbs each

Do you know how they keep them? I am asking because I don't know how they farm and raise livestock. I do buy veggies from them because it's super fresh but I have no idea how they work.

[omega50]

This whole thread reminded me of a Sikh cook I had running a breakfast kitchen for me.
I used to tease her about how violent some Sikh families are to each other.

She used to always say" No Chef- We are the kindest, most gentle people in the world. Right up until we kill you"

Same as a chicken- Maybe very well treated right up until you murder it for supper.
Dead is dead.

[Dakota369]

Perhaps "vegetarian" is the wrong term to describe the op's friend, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to know that the animals we eat are treated in a ( I don't like the word humane here....... humans are too wicked as a general rule) kind and considerate manner. Personally I find many of the modern factory farming methods repugnant, hence I hunt and gain the vast majority of the meat we eat from smaller family (I have family that farms) type farms, where I know that they are treated well, and minimal chemical's are used in the enhancement of them. For the record, I very rarely eat fast food, our out for that matter......

Personally I prefer the term conscientious and informed meat eater.......

Troll away.............

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by omega50

This whole thread reminded me of a Sikh cook I had running a breakfast kitchen for me.
I used to tease her about how violent some Sikh families are to each other.

She used to always say" No Chef- We are the kindest, most gentle people in the world. Right up until we kill you"

Same as a chicken- Maybe very well treated right up until you murder it for supper.
Dead is dead.

Killing a chicken is murder?

You know better than most that how an animal is raised greatly effects it's taste.




Re. the OP's friend. We should pay attention to this person's thoughts as they are valid and pertinent to today's animal husbandry practices.

I know many people who became vegetarian due to personal decisions not to support certain animal husbandry practices. That is a fair decision.

Several friends that "were" vegetarian are now hunters. Our friendship offered them another venue to eat 'ethical' meat, which they took to heart and now kill and eat their own harvest.

A decade ago many urbanites would oppose hunting because in their mind it was cruel, we should get our meat from the store. That pendulum has swung today where it is much more common to hear that store bought meat is cruel while hunted meat is ethically sound.


For those Red Deer and south to Calgary, contact Bowden Chicken Farm for a source of great REAL chickens.

[roper1]

In Europe where 'ethical farming' is more in vogue, food costs per capita run 30-40% higher than North America. Still harvest the animal for food. The little fishies in the ocean live wild & free until we net them. Deers & elks live in the beautiful wilderness until we shoot them with a rifle. The world is running short of protein. Factory farming will continue & expand until the population declines. Full stop. Period

[josey]

Originally Posted by roper1

...food costs per capita run 30-40% higher than North America....

I doubt that. Food is way cheaper in Europe. Especially dairy and cheese. Booze too!
Meat might be more but that's about the only thing I think.

[roper1]

Originally Posted by josey

I doubt that. Food is way cheaper in Europe. Especially dairy and cheese. Booze too!
Meat might be more but that's about the only thing I think.

I stand corrected. I should have posted Meat costs more. Thank you

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by g_trout

Hello,

Does anyone know where I can get some quality, small farm, chickens at a reasonable price? I got a vegetarian who will only eat meat if the animals are treated well. The ones available at the Strathcona farmers market are ridiculously expensive. About $28 where the Safeway one is $8. I don't mind paying a bit more, and already do for beef and pork, but that is too much.
Thanks in advance.

Im thinking go for a drive in the country, and stop in at farms that look chickeny, and ask. How about farmers markets?

[omega50]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

Killing a chicken is murder? .

It did not go voluntarily

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by omega50

It did not go voluntarily

If killing a chicken is Murder, then you're a Cannibal.

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by josey

Do you know how they keep them? I am asking because I don't know how they farm and raise livestock. I do buy veggies from them because it's super fresh but I have no idea how they work.

I don't know about livestock, but I do know some vegetables spend a lot of their life buried alive. Potatoes, beets, carrots spring to mind.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by 1899b

Wierd people can find their own food. Next.......

You wanna eat Weird, you better have deep pockets. Goes with the territory.

Grizz

[super7mag]

Originally Posted by drhu22

Im thinking go for a drive in the country, and stop in at farms that look chickeny, and ask. How about farmers markets?

Here's the thing, the farmer actually has a cost to raise these chickens.. So at 2-3$ per pound return is not real big money.. 8 pound chicken 16-20$.
We just order 50 chicks between 2 family's , 2$ a chick plus shipping, 35$ per waterer and about the same for a self feeder. Starter feed over 1$ per pound, vitamin supplement for the first week or so. Cost of running heat lamp for week or two. It all adds up , never mind coop maintenance .
We're raising our own broilers and also some layers not really to save money but more as we know how they are raised... Hormone and antibiotic free.

[molly]

Originally Posted by Dakota369

Perhaps "vegetarian" is the wrong term to describe the op's friend, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to know that the animals we eat are treated in a ( I don't like the word humane here....... humans are too wicked as a general rule) kind and considerate manner. Personally I find many of the modern factory farming methods repugnant, hence I hunt and gain the vast majority of the meat we eat from smaller family (I have family that farms) type farms, where I know that they are treated well, and minimal chemical's are used in the enhancement of them. For the record, I very rarely eat fast food, our out for that matter......

Personally I prefer the term conscientious and informed meat eater.......

Troll away.............

Well said. I hope that this way of thinking becomes more popular! Here are a couple websites that list sources for ethically grown foods...

http://slowfoodcalgary.ca/directory/

http://www.csaalberta.com/

I just googled "ethically grown food alberta" and found lots of individual farm websites, too.

[molly]

Originally Posted by josey

Do you know how they keep them? I am asking because I don't know how they farm and raise livestock. I do buy veggies from them because it's super fresh but I have no idea how they work.

I think it may depend on the colony. I have read reports from the Alberta SPCA about Hutterites charged with animal neglect, but I am assuming those are isolated cases. I don't know if they allow "outsiders" to tour their farms, if they sell off-farm? They are factory-farmers, though. I would contact a colony and ask to speak to their Chicken Boss, Pig Boss or Cow Boss and ask them questions. Their chickens can be good but the last ones we got from Foothills Meats in High River were only so-so, and half the bones were broken as the cryovac squashed the hell out of them!

[Kim473]

Originally Posted by jpohlic

We get ours from the hutterites. I think the last bag came from Mannville colony and was $2/lb for whole fresh chickens. Good sized ones too, between 5-6 lbs each

X2

Shell Scottford Huds sell chickens and eggs. Fresh veggies too. I think they slaughter on thursdays.