The following are some highlights from the web site www.eatwild.com and Jo Robinson's book Pasture Perfect published in 2004:

Chickens and turkeys are good foragers. When chickens are raised on pasture they can get as much as 30 percent of their nutritional needs from insects, grass, clover and other greens; turkeys are better grazers and can glean as much as 50 percent of their calories from pasture. As a result, their meat and eggs are high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, vitamin A, folic acid, and carotenoids. Poultry birds also need high quality protein from grains in their diet.

A) Health benefits:

• Less fat, fewer calories:
  A recent study, funded by the USDA, tested chickens raised on fresh green pasture and compared them with chickens raised in confinement houses. The pasture raised chickens had 21 percent less total fat, 30 percent less saturated fat, and 28 percent fewer calories. The breast meat tested so lean that the USDA could classify it as "fat free". The meat also had 50 percent more vitamin A and 100 percent more omega-3 fatty acids.
  

More Omega-3 essential fatty acids also called good fats
There are two families of essential fatty acids (EFA) omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Studies suggest that if your diet contains roughly equal amounts of these two fats, you will have a lower risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, allergies, obesity, diabetes, dementia, and various other mental disorders.
People with ample amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in their diet are less likely to have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat. They are also less likely to have a heart attack. Research also suggests that a diet rich in omega-3s may help reduce the risk of cancer. However, only 40% of Americans consume adequate levels of omega-3s. Since omega-3s are formed in the green leaves of plants, animals that graze on grass have much higher levels of this fatty acid.


More natural CLA
Conjugated Linoleic Acid or CLA is a type of fat that may prove to be one of our most potent cancer fighters as well as a “fat-burning” property, which helps the body convert fat to lean muscle.


• More beta-carotene -Found in fresh grass, this vitamin helps reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease
  
  
• Higher Vitamin E
  Vitamin E is an important antioxidant, which boosts the immune system and may help decrease the risk of heart disease. Grass and clover contain high amounts of vitamin E. As a result, pasture-raised meat, milk and eggs contain more vitamin E. Switching to the meat, milk, eggs and dairy products of grass-fed animals is one way to restore the vital nutrients to your diet.
  

B) Improve soil and decrease fly population:

On our farm we practice intensive rotational grazing with our dairy cows. This program promotes soil health and productivity. Incorporating pastured poultry to our dairy farm operation has improved our soil even more. The chickens and turkeys following behind the cattle peck insect and larva from the manure. As they peck and scratch, they disperse the piles, spreading the fertilizer even more. When the cows return to the particular paddock, new grass will be growing where the manure used to be and there will be fewer flies to harass the cows.

C) Humanely produced: no animal cruelty.

D) Environmentally Friendly: Cut down in the use of fossil fuel and prevent the erosion of top soil.