I noticed today that Coles has a new line of chicken. It claims that it is a “specialty breed” and raised to the “RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme Standards”.
I thought I would go and find out what this speciality breed is at their provided link:
No surprises that there is no information that isn’t already on their flyer and nothing I could find easily on the internet either. Given I’m not a fan of the RSPCA, I’m not overly convinced about the farming practises either. Their idea of free range is laughable.
Call me cynical and suspicious but I’m not convinced that premium specialty chicken everything it’s cracked up to be.
This is very suspicious to me. We raised free range chickens, (in a small way) for a few years: we used organic rules as our standard - although we were unable to source organic grain at the time. The major rule was, from memory, that the birds were not to be killed prior to 10 weeks. We purchased day old meat birds from a hatchery (grown from fertilised eggs imported from the UK - I believe virtually all meat birds grown in Australia are sourced by the same method): raised them until they were a minimum of 10 weeks old, before taking them to a processor. By this stage, they could barely walk, because they were carrying so much weight on legs that were unable to support them (the breeding genetics want big breasts etc, not worried about spindly ‘pins’…). Most of our birds were between 2kg-3kg, bare weight - there was one (probably 3-4 weeks older) I distinctly remember being closer to 4kg, more the size of a turkey!
I realise this is a long story, but I am very aware of the size/weight of meat chickens for general sale: they are processed quite early in their lives (cuts down the feed costs) and so are relatively small. I think that the Coles “special breed” is exactly the same as all the other meat birds in Australia, but allowed to ‘free range’ AND allowed to live 1-2 weeks longer!
Which brings me to ‘free range’ for meat birds… my experience taught me that the birds are very agile, and enjoy free ranging in their early (2 to 4 weeks of life), they become physically unable to move very far once the weight starts piling on. They were never as active, and “chook like” though, as our laying birds.
Ethically, I still buy only free range chicken, because I dislike factory farming, and at least they get some sunlight in their lifetime… and they taste good (but not as good as the ones we grew!!).
PS Just checked the current standards - [2019 V1 standards “5.2.20. Selection of genetics shall be such as to conform to the principles and aims of organic production.
This shall include preference for slower growing species for meat production and species that are able to perform their natural social and physical functions. As a guide, meat chicken species should be grown to a minimum age of 70 days.”]
Thanks for this post. I found it very interesting. I’m just back from 20 years in the UK and we have found the chooks in Australia a really weird shape with huge breasts. We’ve tried all the organic and free range but they all seem the same. The UK birds are much leaner. Any ideas where we can find a more “normal” chicken?
The bird you see is a result of decades of selective breeding to produce a specialised meat bird that is heavy and gains weight very quickly and economically. They are raised in cages on a bland diet so they don’t get exercise and don’t have much flavour. I have got used to adding flavour when cooking and not relying on the bird itself. I hadn’t noticed that they are particularly fatty - or were you referring to the amount of meat on them?
You might get a more standard bred yard chicken from a specialist grower. They are likely to be organic and free range. Hopefully they will have more flavour but I wouldn’t bet on it. They will certainly be much more expensive per kilo. You will find some supermarket birds have a more yellowish colour. This is from adding corn to their diet, I haven’t found that it makes much difference to flavour.
Yes, I forgot to mention flavour. They are not very chickeny and I did mean meaty not fatty. The chicken breasts are enormous! Having said that almost every other thing is better here but the search for a tasty leaner chook goes on.
After Coles dropped fresh Steggles Family Roast Chickens last year for their own brand, they have suddenly started stocking them again, and not only are they on special for just $2.80/kg, all the stock at our local Coles is dated 29.04.2020.
As thay are all around 2kg to 3kg, they are way too big to cook and sell as Roast Chickens.
Looks there might just be some unbelievably cheap chickens today or tomorrow.
I recently bought a Slow Hills chicken at Coles marked down to half price.
It was 2.2kg in comparison to the Steggles family Roast chickens I usually buy which are around 2.8kg, and I prepared the usual quantity of my stuffing. Whilst I always have some left over which I wrap in oiled foil and cook, I could not fit even half in the Slow Hills chicken as it seemed to have a very small cavity.
The chicken was moist and tasty but not as nice as the Steggles Family Roast chickens which retail for around half the price per kg.
Definitely not worth paying around double the price per kg for.
I have never liked Coles Chickens,but find Woolworths one’s not bad.Of recent times they have appeared to got rid of the free range chickens that had no stuffing either.The same Price you could get a Woolworths one with stuffing,but found these one’s extremely fatty.But since the free range have gone the Woolworths one’s are now a lot better.Generally buying other Chicken products i tend to choose Steggles etc as they are just better quality and a great pick up when on special
I’ve found the flavour of the Slow Hills chickens to be extraordinarily good. They taste like real chicken - not bland when not marinated, and I’m not keen in marinated chicken because it just taste like, well, marinade. I’d pretty much forgotten what chickens used to taste like. I’m a repeat buyer. Great chooks!
That’s my experience too. My butcher gets amazing whole chickens that are for special meals. We get at least 3 different meals for two adults from one of his chickens.
I always hated the chicken I bought at restaurants and supermarkets until I bought ( expensive) slow hills chicken from Coles … I buy a whole one and make into 3 dinners ( not expensive) I will stop eating chicken if I can’t keep buying it for some reason … it tastes nearly like the chicken used to taste in my youth …delicious .
