Best Free range organic whole chicken you have had ??

janiebaby29

Looking ahead to christmas ,
as there is only two of us for dinner this year , i would like to shell out a bit on a chicken ,
any recs at all ??
Abel and cole are doing them so thats a possibilty , but wanted to find out from you lot first

ChapelGirl

I have no idea where any of you live, but the best free-range chicken we ever had in the UK came from these people. They aren't Soil Association certified because they say it would cost them too much money but their birds are all free-range and fed on an organic diet. They do beef as well, and turkeys at Xmas. They are only a small farm, and do the local farmers' markets.

http://maps.google.fr/maps/place?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=com.ubuntu:en-GB:unofficial&hs=qN1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=%22darrow+farm%22+denton&fb=1&gl=fr&hq=Darrow+Green+Farm&hnear=Darrow+Green+Farm&cid=10588477937418158157

janiebaby29

ChapelGirl wrote: »

I have no idea where any of you live, but the best free-range chicken we ever had in the UK came from these people. They aren't Soil Association certified because they say it would cost them too much money but their birds are all free-range and fed on an organic diet. They do beef as well, and turkeys at Xmas. They are only a small farm, and do the local farmers' markets.

http://maps.google.fr/maps/place?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=com.ubuntu:en-GB:unofficial&hs=qN1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=%22darrow+farm%22+denton&fb=1&gl=fr&hq=Darrow+Green+Farm&hnear=Darrow+Green+Farm&cid=10588477937418158157

im from essex if that helps

ChapelGirl

After we left Norfolk we were in the Southend area for a while. OH's mum is in Chelmsford. We tried all the local farm shops within about a 20 mile radius of each town but couldn't find any decent chickens. We tried all the supermarket free-range and organic ones too and none of them were that spectacular either.

If you go to Borough Market in the City of London you can get blue-legged chickens from Bresse in France. They are Appellation d’origine contrôl!e and each one comes with its own leg tag and serial number. They are very very good, but they are VERY VERY expensive. We found it cheaper to emigrate to France than to buy them from there!:rotfl:

Maybe you could have a day out to Norfolk? Take a sat-nav though because the farm I mentioned is way out in the wilds.

pelirocco

madgetts farm chickens , my local butcher has stopped stocking them sadly , you can buy direct but its a hassle

MichH

Sheepdrove - organic and free range, you can order online.

Stephen_Leak

I've got to play "devil's advocate" here.

My Mum and I had an organic, free range chicken from our local farm store for Christmas a couple of years ago. Bluntly, it was tasteless. And it was bl**dy expensive.

Maybe we expected too much. Maybe it's because we were too used to the supermarket ones. For the last two years, we've had one of these - in fact, I deliberately bought budget ones - and we've thoroughly enjoyed them. Sorry.

Kay_Peel

I bought a really tasty organic free-range chicken from Asda. And I mean really tasty.

It was an odd shape, in fact it looked a bit skinny, because it hadn't been artifically pumped up with water. The juices from the roast were pure nectar!

I made stock from the bones and bits and that was excellent too. I'd certainly buy another one.

Penelope_Penguin

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westcoastscot

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know of a supplier who kills their own chickens as well as rearing them? I always buy free-range, but am reading Not on the Label at the mo, which is saying that a lot of free-range chickens go through the same slaughterhouses as battery birds - it's pretty horrendous - so would like to avoid that if poss.
Thanks,
WCS

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Sad to say (due to food miles), but the best chickens I have ever had have been from Bresse. Not sure if it's just spiel, but been told the chooks wander all along the country lanes around the farms, they're that free range.