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If you're like most people, you probably haven't thought much about the life of the chicken you're about to eat for dinner. But a St. Clair County family wants to change that. Poultry Farm Design
They say how and where that chicken was raised makes a difference to its health and the health of the people who consume it.
Hunter Morgan and his wife Madison were happy to leave the hustle and bustle of Nashville and move back home to the Morgan family farm. They knew they wanted to farm, but they weren't exactly sure what that would look like.
“We never envisioned it would be chickens, and our family thought we were a little nuts in the beginning," Hunter Morgan said.
Scratch Made Farm was born and chickens it would be. Hunter said, at first, it was just a way for the family to eat healthier.
"We really wanted pasture-raised meat for our family. And so, this is something we wanted to do for our family. We have the space to do it. And so, our thought process is if we're going to do this for our family, let's make it available for other families as well," Hunter Morgan said.
They have chickens they raise for meat and different breeds of hens for eggs. The egg business is slow now after a traumatic setback.
“A few weeks ago, had an attack on our coop in the middle of the night and some wild animal came in, dug underneath our movable cages and killed 25 chickens overnight. So, we had a pretty big setback," Hunter Mogan said.
But new chicks will soon be old enough to lay eggs and will help boost that side of the business.
Morgan said raising chickens on a pasture in coops they move every single day is more expensive and more work. So his chickens cost more than you'd pay at a grocery store, but it makes for healthier animals. He said the meat has more omega-3 fatty acids and less saturated fat than conventionally raised chickens, and that's important to his customers.
If you would like to buy chicken or eggs from the Morgans, click here.
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