The company's sustainable farming practices distinguish these chickens from those raised conventionally in this country. While each brand is distinct, the three birds share the following characteristics:

• Their feed contains no antibiotics. In contrast, conventional growers use antibiotics to stimulate growth.

• Chickens taste like what they eat, and at Petaluma Poultry the vegetarian diet consists of corn and soybean meal. Conventional feed contains animal fat and animal byproducts.

• The chickens grow from day one to maturity in a stress free environment - spacious poultry houses that have natural daylight. They roam freely throughout these barns; the earth floor is covered with a layer of rice hulls, a natural bedding. The chickens also have access to the outdoors for 8-10 hours a day and are defined as Free Range. 

• The chickens receive humane treatment at all times during their lives.

• The ranchers use sustainable farming methods.

What is an Organic Chicken?

Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and biological activity. It is based on a minimal use of off-farm inputs and management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony. Organic is a labeling term which denotes products produced under the requirements of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. The principal guidelines for organic production are to use materials and practices that enhance the ecological balance of natural systems and that integrate the parts of the farming system into an ecological whole. Organic agriculture practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residues; however, methods are used to minimize pollution from the air, soil and water. Organic food handlers, processors and retailers adhere to standards that maintain the integrity of Organic agricultural products. The primary goal of Organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil, plants, animals and people.

In order for a chicken to be a certified organic chicken, the following standards must be followed:

1. Each bird must be fed certified organic feed for its entire life. Organic feed contains grains and soybeans that were grown in soil that has been free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers for a period of three years. All feed ingredients must be certified as acceptable by a third party certifier.
2. A third party certifier must verify:
   1. Growing farms and farm plan used in growing birds;
   2. Feed mill where organic feed is mixed and equipment that delivers the feed
   3. Processing plant where birds are processed and cut up.
3. A complete audit trail must be maintained at all times that can trace a chicken from the time it was a hatching egg through growing, processing and distribution to the end user.
4. No drugs or antibiotics of any kind can be used in growing organic birds.
5. All organic chickens must have outdoor access. Rosie The Organic Chicken is certified organic by Oregon Tilth, a nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to environmentally sound agriculture. They are among the 33 nationally accredited organizations that develop standards and procedures which meet the provisions of federal and state laws as well as the requirements for accreditation by the international Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM).

What is Free Range?

USDA standards allow any poultry with access to the outside – even a small, outdoor, concrete pad – to be labeled free range. Petaluma Poultry believes that free range chickens are raised in spacious poultry houses. Petaluma’s birds get approximately one square foot per bird, about 25% more space per bird than those raised in conventional poultry operations. Depending upon the farm, the pens outside are 50% to 100% of the size of the inside houses.