Scott's Chicken Blog - Page 2 of 4

June 18, 2018

Simple Ingredients

Do you know what’s in your burger? How about your hot dog? If you buy Bell & Evans Chicken Franks or Burgers, you’ll recognize all the ingredients. You could probably even memorize them. Our Chicken Burgers are made from just three ingredients – chicken, salt and pepper. That’s it. Our Organic Chicken Franks aren’t much...

May 22, 2018

My Ongoing Fight Against Antibiotics

I began raising and selling chickens at age seven or eight and it was my passion from day one. I wanted my chickens to be healthy and happy. Even as a kid, common sense told me that chickens – or any animal for that matter – could be raised without the need for antibiotics if...

May 17, 2018

ASPCA Visit

We had the pleasure of hosting four representatives from the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) last week. I showed them our further processing and packaging facility and took them on a tour of our new organic certified, animal-welfare-focused Chicken Hatchery. We also took time to sit and talk about animal...

May 1, 2018

The “Halo Effect” – Label Confusion & Dishonesty

Commodity producers have figured out there’s money to be made in the natural and organic markets. Price used to drive most food purchasing decisions, but today there’s a greater demand for premium, natural and organic items. Commodity producers are responding by either acquiring smaller, niche businesses that specialize in these areas or transitioning a small...

April 20, 2018

Is Your “Organic” Purchase Organic?

When you pay a premium for “organic,” you assume the item you’re purchasing is free from pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics or food additives. You believe the producer and its suppliers and farmers are committed to providing high quality foods, using agriculture’s most sustainable best practices. This should be the case! Unfortunately, a growing demand for organic...

April 9, 2018

My Opinion of the Proposed Organic Livestock Care Rule (and its Cancellation)

Kudos to the Trump administration for canceling the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices Rule. For those who aren’t entrenched in the day-to-day operations of raising organic broiler chickens, the proposal may have seemed reasonable. I want to explain why it’s not. First, I completely agree with developing consistent, higher standards for organic chicken farming. Bell...

April 2, 2018

Dark Meat and Skin

I want to let you in on a little secret. If you’re someone who only eats the white meat of chicken, you’re missing out! Dark meat is even more tender and flavorful than white, especially when you leave the skin intact. The skin locks in moisture and flavor when you cook it. Dark meat and...

March 6, 2018

Egg Care – Demand No Formaldehyde!

Formaldehyde is commonly used to disinfect eggs. Despite being a toxic chemical, profit-driven producers use formaldehyde to fumigate eggs because it’s a cheap way to minimize bacteria. Formaldehyde has been linked to cancer and other serious health issues, so I decided many years ago that it had no business near my eggs or team members. ...

March 1, 2018

Leading the Charge in Humane Animal Welfare!

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. Controlled Atmosphere Stunning (CAS) has been in the news this week – a large commodity chicken producer announced its investment in their first CAS system and improvements to its live-bird handling. This upgrade is part of their new poultry welfare commitment and a gradual transition to...

February 21, 2018

Why a “Slow-growth Chicken” Focus Alone is Problematic

In my last blog, I introduced our new, proprietary breed of higher-welfare chickens named Das Klassenbester™. If you haven’t read that post, you may want to start there because this is a continuation of that discussion. We’re really excited about our new, higher-welfare breed. Our Das Klassenbester grows more humanely, meaning its natural genetics (or...

Scott’s Chicken Blog