Your Chickens are Dinosaurs (and NOT the plant-eating kind!)
Sorry to burst your bubble — but vegetarian-fed chicken just ain’t natural
Go into any supermarket today and the array of choices for eggs and chicken meat is nothing short of mind-boggling. Organic, free run, pastured, and conventional products all vie for your attention and consumer dollars.
In an effort to capitalize on the latest plant-based diets and meatless trends, more and more chicken and egg products are being labelled as coming from “vegetarian-fed”, “vegetarian-diet”, or “plant-based diet” chickens. It has even becoming a selling point for some restaurants and various processed foods . The idea is that feeding chickens a vegetarian diet somehow makes the meat or eggs healthier too.
But are vegetarian diets really better for chickens? I would clearly argue the answer to that is an emphatic “NO!” And I have T. rex on my side to prove it.
What does vegetarian-fed chicken mean?
Vegetarian-fed chickens are provided a diet made only of plants with no animal proteins. Some combination of grains, corn and soy are typically ground and extruded into pelleted or crumbled form for easier feeding.
