FAQ - Chickenlexic
1. Why does the chicken need to be cooled?
All poultry processors use a cooling method to prevent the growth of bacteria. Two cooling modes are mainly used:
- Water cooling, which consists of immersing the chicken in an ice water tank.
- Air cooling, which uses cold air to cool the product.
2. Is there an advantage to using air cooling rather than water cooling?
Yes, a chicken, when water cooled, will become waterlogged and will shrink when cooked due to water evaporation.The air-cooled chicken will give you more for your money. Since water is also an important source of bacteria growth, the shelf life of air-cooled chickens will be extended.
3. What does vegetable grain-fed chicken mean?
A chicken fed with vegetable grain will benefit from a diet consisting only of first quality vegetable ingredients, with no added animal by-products, such as bone, feather or viscera meal. Animal by-products, since they are an inexpensive source of protein, are frequently used by conventional farmers to reduce their breeding costs.
Ferme des Voltigeurs has developed a tailor-made diet, based exclusively on vegetable products, ranging from cereals to gelatine used for coating vitamins. In 2014, it became the only company in Quebec to offer a chicken fed on AGRO-COM verified vegetable grain.
4. What are the different types of chickens available on the market?
What are the different types of chickens available on the market?
These 4 products our found in our stores.
Ferme des Voltigeurs is now the only company in Quebec to offer a vegetable grain chicken verified by the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (AGRO-COM standard).
5. What does organic mean?
To certify an "organic" chicken, the farm must, in addition to feeding its chickens exclusively organic ingredients, including cereals grown without the use of pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers or GMOs, adapt its breeding management. The stocking density, in other words the number of chickens per square foot, is lower, which gives the animal more space to move around. Chickens also have access to the outdoors when conditions permit and can therefore eat all-natural ingredients and enjoy daylight. Finally, this production method prohibits the use of any animal by-products and antibiotics.
There is a difference between claiming to be organic and being "certified organic," as is Ferme des Voltigeurs.
6. Do all types of chickens on the market offer the same quality?
No. The quality of a chicken is determined by:
- Its nutritional value (protein content, fat content, etc.)
- The preservation of organoleptic qualities (flavour)
- The shelf life of the product
- The weight of the product after cooking
- The treatment of the animal during its growth phase
7. Why is the chicken from ferme des voltigeurs a quality chicken?
8. What is feed?
Feed is a preparation of ingredients intended to nourish animals. Generally, it consists of cereals, vitamins and minerals, and in conventional livestock, animal proteins, animal fats and animal by-products. There are mainly two types of feed in a poultry farm:
- Cubed feed (cooked)
- Flour feed (raw)
Since flour feed takes longer to digest, the chicken will spend more energy digesting it, leading to a lower fat and higher protein content.
9. What kind of feed is offered to the chickens on ferme des voltigeurs?
The feed offered to the chickens at Ferme des Voltigeurs is made of flour and composed entirely of premium quality corn and soybeans, vitamins and minerals.
In its production methods, Ferme des Voltigeurs has voluntarily decided to opt for a lower fat, higher protein and better quality feed, in order to offer a chicken that is less fat and more generous in protein.
10. Are all the chickens on ferme des voltigeurs fed the same way?
Yes. While the ingredients used in the preparations will be the same for all chickens, it is the origin of the ingredients that will be different, whether the chickens are fed organic or vegetable grains. The preparations offered to organic chickens will consist only of organic ingredients and therefore will come only from cereal crops produced without pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and without GMOs. The preparations developed for the growth of vegetable chickens also rely on top quality ingredients and, combined with La Farm's preferred breeding methods, offer consumers the chance to benefit from a superior quality product at a more affordable cost.
11. What is an antibiotic?
An antibiotic is a product intended to treat an animal when it is sick. It can be used to cure (curative mode) or to prevent infections (preventive mode).
12. Why are antibiotics administered on a poultry farm?
In animal husbandry, it is important to distinguish three types of antibiotics: curative antibiotics, class 1 curative antibiotics and preventive antibiotics, also called growth factors.
While organic chickens are 100% antibiotic-free, Ferme des Voltigeurs vegetable grain-fed chickens are generally antibiotic-free, except in cases of disease (curative antibiotics) .
13. In canada, are broilers raised freely?
Yes, all chickens in Canada are free-run with an average raising area of 0.7 square feet per chicken.
Chickens at Ferme des Voltigeurs benefit, however, from a larger breeding area, which offers better conditions and creates a lower-fat chicken with a higher percentage of meat.
14. Why is vacuum packaging preferable?
By removing oxygen from the package, we extend the product's shelf life and preserve its flavour right to the consumer's table.
By combining vacuum packaging and air cooling, the freshness of Ferme des Voltigeurs’ products is guaranteed for 16 days, while the industry average is 10 days.