This first batch is small — twelve birds, harvested this week, available now. That’s intentional. We’ve raised chickens for personal use before, but this is our first commercial flock and we wanted to do it right before we did it at scale. What we learned from these twelve birds will shape how we raise every flock that follows.

Here’s how we raised them, why it matters, and what you can expect from Mad Horse Meats pasture-raised chicken.

We raised Cornish Cross broilers for this first batch. Cornish Cross is the standard commercial meat chicken breed — bred specifically for meat production, known for fast growth, broad breast development, and efficient feed conversion. They reach processing weight at around eight weeks, which is where we harvested ours.

We chose Cornish Cross for the first flock deliberately. Before we experiment with heritage breeds — which grow slower, cost more to raise, and produce a very different product — we wanted to establish our baseline systems on pasture with a breed we understand well. The Cornish Cross is forgiving and consistent. It let us focus on getting our pasture management, shelter rotation, and processing protocols right without adding breed variability into the mix.

Future flocks may include heritage breeds as we grow and our processing facility comes online. We’ll write about that when we get there.

Our chickens are raised on the same 85 acres of pasture as our cattle and sheep. That is not a coincidence — it is part of how regenerative farming is supposed to work. Chickens follow cattle on rotating pasture, scratching through manure, eating insects and larvae, and naturally fertilizing the ground behind the grazing animals. It is one of the oldest and most effective multi-species grazing systems in agriculture.

The birds live in portable shelters that move across the pasture — covered areas that protect them from weather and predators, open on one side to give them direct access to the grass and soil beneath them. Each shelter provides both a covered area for shade and shelter, and an open area where the birds can access sunlight, fresh grass, and natural foraging. The shelters move regularly so the birds always have access to fresh ground.

This is what pasture-raised actually means — not a small outdoor area attached to a large indoor house, but birds genuinely living on grass, moving across the land, behaving like chickens are meant to behave.

Our chickens are fed commercial grower feed in addition to what they forage on pasture. We want to be straightforward about this — chickens, unlike cattle and sheep, cannot meet their nutritional needs from pasture alone. They are omnivores that need a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and nutrients that pasture grass alone does not provide. Every honest pasture-raised chicken operation supplements with feed. Ours does too.

What matters is the rest of the story — that these birds spent their days on living pasture, foraged for insects and vegetation, had room to move and behave naturally, and were raised without added hormones or unnecessary antibiotics. The feed supplements their pasture foraging. It does not replace it.

As we scale up, sourcing feed ingredients and understanding exactly what our birds eat will become increasingly important to us — just as it is with our cattle. We will write more about feed as that part of our operation develops.

Because this is a small first batch we are offering a complete range of cuts to give customers a chance to try different parts of the bird and tell us what they want more of in future flocks. Available now:

Whole chicken — the best way to experience a pasture-raised bird for the first time. Roast it simply with butter, salt, and herbs. The flavor will be noticeably different from anything you’ve bought at a grocery store.

Boneless breast — leaner and firmer than commercial chicken breast. Don’t overcook it. A quick sear in a hot pan and it’s done in minutes.

Legs, thighs, and drumsticks — the dark meat on a pasture-raised bird is exceptional. More flavorful than the breast, more forgiving to cook, and deeply satisfying whether roasted, braised, or grilled.

Wings — straightforward and delicious. Roast them hot until the skin is crispy.

Backs and necks — the foundation of the best stock you’ve ever made. Pasture-raised chicken backs and necks produce a stock with depth and gelatin that commercial carcasses simply cannot match. If you make stock, these are worth ordering.

Livers — for those who know, pasture-raised chicken liver is a different ingredient entirely from what you find at a grocery store. Rich, clean, and deeply flavored. Sauté in butter with shallots and a splash of sherry. Done.

Twelve birds is a starting point. We will grow our chicken program in the coming months, increasing flock size and frequency as we refine our systems and build customer demand. Being on the email list is the best way to know when each new batch is available — chicken will sell quickly and we want our existing customers to have first access.

The opening of our on-site USDA processing facility — currently in the permitting phase with a target groundbreaking of late 2026 — will dramatically expand our ability to bring chicken and all of our other species to market on our own schedule and timeline. Until then we are working with outside processing and managing volumes accordingly.

If you have questions about how we raise our chickens, what cuts are available, or anything else about the farm, reply to any of our emails or reach us at madhorsemeats.com. We love talking about this.