On April 17, 2009, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch hosted an event in Lindsborg, Kans., announcing the definition of heritage chicken. The event included tasting meat of four breeds of heritage chickens. The tasting was divided into a meal (including side dishes) for each season, because different breeds of chickens mature at different rates and the meat is better suited to different uses depending on the maturity of the bird at slaughter.

Here’s an overview of the menu. Some of the recipes are available on the recipe page of the Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch website.

Fall — New Hampshire Red
Fried Chicken
Chicken Osso Buco

Winter — Jersey Giant
Baked Chicken
Tropical Mole’ Chicken

Spring — Cornish (Indian Game)
Cottage Pie
Chicken Soup with Knaidlach

Summer — Plymouth Rock
Pressed Chicken
Chicken Salad

So what’s different about heritage chicken? Everything! The size and shape of the pieces of meat is remarkable; the drumsticks are nearly as long as that of a small turkey. The texture is firmer. It’s similar to tender beef — you can cut it with a fork, but you can’t mash it like industrially raised chicken.

By the way, cooking heritage chicken requires different methods to make it turn out right. In brief, you have to cook it more slowly, at lower temperatures and with more moisture.

It’s more flavorful, even to an untrained, dull palate (such as mine). The meat, regardless of which dish it was used in, tasted great. But the flavor of the broth was dramatic. I’ve tried to make chicken broth from industrial chicken without adding commercial bouillon, but it always ends up flat. The broth from the heritage chicken was wonderful, and I confirmed it was not “fixed up” with bouillon.

"Free range" refers to chickens being allowed to range freely outdoors where they can eat whatever grass, weed seeds, insects and worms they choose. This results in more nutritious eggs and meat for consumers, and more healthy, humane conditions for the birds. Some producers abuse this term and label their eggs as “free range” when in fact all they have done is open a door to allow their chickens to range in an outdoor area of bare dirt or concrete, with no pasture in sight. 

Thus you need to confirm if your eggs or chicken comes from "true" or "pastured" or "grass-fed" free-range conditions. Also, some producers choose a modified system that involves keeping birds safe from predators by confining them in pens or inside electric fencing, and moving the pens frequently onto fresh pastures. Thus, pastured birds may be true free-range or penned, but either system is correctly referred to as “pastured.” And either system is a better choice than products that come from industrial factory farm conditions.

To learn a great deal more about all the terminology you might have to decipher on egg cartons these days (like "cage free" or "enhanced with omega-3s"), check out How to Decode Egg Cartons.

See also:  USDA definition