Ancient Grains in Chicken Feed

If you have had our Pasture Raised Chicken and are familiar with our farm, you know we strive to provide our customers with the best chicken possible. We want to do the best we can in flavor, healthiness of the meat, animal husbandry and stewardship of the land. We achieve these goals with various methods here on the farm. There is a long list of practices we employ and a lot of details and nuances we learned over the years. One of these details being our choice in feed and the specifics of what we look for.

For us, we want NON-GMO, but we have our sights set on growing nutritionally superior  chickens that get to enjoy the best possible meals. Don’t get us wrong, NON-GMO is great but we go further than NON-GMO, and we look Beyond Organic! We want even a step up from there. This is where it gets tricky. Feed stores and even feed mills all supply feed with mixed modern grains. Modern grains being the key point here. We looked far and wide and found an Amish family who grows organic, NON-GMO, ancient grains. Why is this important and why did we look for this?

Feeding ancient grains such as red fife and einkorn to chickens has several potential benefits, including:

Improved Nutrient Profile: Ancient grains contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals compared to modern grains, and feeding these grains to chickens can help to improve the nutrient profile of the meat and their eggs. Compared to modern grains, ancient grains like red fife and einkorn contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and B vitamins.

Better Digestion: Ancient grains are less processed than modern grains, which can make them easier for chickens to digest. This can result in better overall health. The grains fed to the chickens at Nature’s Grove Farm are brought right from the field, run through a grinder and bagged. This avoids any adverse effects that typical commercial processing would have on the grains.

Increased Antioxidant Content: Ancient grains contain higher levels of antioxidants, which can help to protect chickens against cellular damage and reduce the risk of disease.

Enhanced Flavor: Ancient grains have a nuttier, more complex flavor than modern grains, which can result in meat and eggs with a more desirable taste.

This is just one of the many nuances that go into raising our chickens. These ancient grains also combine with a diverse pasture full of grasses, bugs, grubs and more! This means our chickens get a diet catered to their primal bodies and allows us to bring you truly unique chicken for your culinary creations!