Raising chickens specifically for the table is different than topping off some old laying hens that are past their use by date.

It is a bit like aging wine - it's all about timing - too young and you're not getting the full potential of the bird - too old and it is past it's best.   Birds that are hatched in the spring are usually good for the table or freezer by late summer through Autumn.   You don't want to feed them all winter.

A lot of the chicken meat on the market today comes from birds that have been grown quickly and killed very young.  These birds have often had limited or no access to outside free ranging. 

Birds that have grown more slowly and wandered around scratching and foraging on a varied diet of grass and grubs as well as chicken feed have an altogether different flavour.    In my opinion it is tastier, richer meat.

But as with anything, what you put in is what you get out.   To produce great birds for your table you need to feed them well and regularly.   (See our section on feeding)

In this section of the website we go through a range of different breeds of chickens that are best suited to meat production rather than laying.     They will lay eggs but they tend to go broody faster than egg breeds.