Finding success in poultry business

KANSAS - Fifty fuzzy chicks huddled under a heat lamp in Carl Hill's garage. The flock arrived the first week of May. Eight weeks later, these chickens will be ready for the frying pan.

For the past few years, Hill, 16, of Lewisport has raised pasture-fed poultry. The birds aren't certified organic, but they're the next best thing.

Hill's flock eats grass, bugs and a mix that includes kelp meal, corn and roasted soybeans. His chickens sell for $2.50 a pound, or more than double the grocery-store price earlier this month of $1.12 a pound for whole chickens.

"It's well worth it," Aloma Dew said of the more expensive meat. She ordered a dozen chickens from Carl's spring flock.

Dew frowns on industrial-type farms that pump antibiotics into the food supply. She appreciates knowing how the meat on her plate was raised, right down to what it ate and where it slept.

"I could go visit those chickens if I wanted to," Dew said of Hill's flock. "It's exciting to know who grew your food."

As far as Dew knows, Hill is the only local producer of pasture-fed poultry. Before she started buying from him, Dew stocked up on organic chickens when she traveled to the Lexington area.
Source: WKYT 27