Frequently Asked Questions: Pasture-Raised Chicken FAQ

“Pasture-raised” refers to chickens that spend the majority of their lives on pasture land covered in rooted vegetation, such as grasses, plants, and soil, instead of being confined indoors. Since March 2025, the USDA has formally defined this term to mean animals live most of their lives outdoors on vegetated pasture, giving it clearer distinction from free-range labels.

• Cage-Free: Birds roam indoors with no guaranteed outdoor access.
• Free-Range: Birds must have some outdoor access, but regulations don’t specify quality or amount of space.
• Organic: A USDA organic certification for poultry mostly about inputs (aka, their food). Birds must eat 100% certified-organic feed (no GMOs or synthetic pesticides) and can’t be given antibiotics; they must have some outdoor access, but it doesn’t require meaningful pasture time. In practice, the biggest difference between organic and conventional chicken is the size of the grain bill for the farmer.
• Pasture-Raised: The USDA’s updated standard requires birds to spend most of their lives on vegetated pasture. Third-party certifiers like Certified Humane and Global Animal Partnership now align their labels with this definition.

Generally yes, especially on fat profile and antioxidants, though it depends on breed, feed, and how much real pasture the birds actually eat. Large comparisons and meta-analyses report that pasture-raised systems often yield meat with higher polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3s, than conventional systems. 1) Pub Med 2) Pub Med

We may be biased, but we absolutely believe pasture-raised birds develop a richer flavor and more tender meat, thanks to their varied diet and more active lifestyle. Their varied forage shows up on the plate as a deeper meat color (a nice, golden yellow), a clean, savory finish, skin that crisps beautifully, and– our personal favorite– a stock that sets into a jiggly gel with body and spunk.

Ultimately, the key is that the birds spend the majority of their lives out on pasture versus in a barn or cage. There are two primary production models for raising poultry outside as nature intended. Farms either:

Stationary Barn-Based Systems

• Chickens live healthier, less stressed lives with space to roam and forage and exhibit natural chicken behaviors.
• Their manure naturally fertilizes soil, while scratching and pecking help with pest control and soil aeration.
• Mobile coop systems maximize these benefits by rotating flocks, allowing pasture to recover, improving biodiversity, and increasing soil fertility.

Simply put, it costs more to raise chickens this way. Typically the flocks are smaller, more land is required, and more labor is required to manage the rotational systems. But consumers get better flavor, higher nutrition, and the peace of mind of supporting regenerative farming practices that maintain a high animal welfare standard.

Simple: the flavor, the nutritional value, the land benefits and animal welfare. You get a richer depth of flavor from the meat of pasture-raised chickens. That meat also often benefits from more healthy polyunsaturated fats. Pasture-raised chickens also support proper land management that can see chickens greatly helping soil health. Finally, the chickens are able to live less stressful lives, helping their quality of life and further increasing the meat quality. That is why we exclusively use pastured-raised chicken in our demi-glace.