Mick,
Well some say up to 30% from pasture, especially for layers who don't need much protein. Growers will be real susceptible to protein deficiencies and it will be easy to shoot yourself in the foot.
People like meat on their
chicken carcass and far too many heritage birds not only are not double breasted, they practically have no breast at all. They're just egg layers with pretty feathers and often not very good layers at that. The hatcheries and fanciers have decimated the utility quality of the genetics. Forget quality, half the time you're lucky to get the breed you ordered. I'd sure like to hear from Adam just how the breast matches up on his birds compared to a
Freedom Ranger and a CC.
I refuse to raise CC birds; sickly disgusting things. I have some rainbows for layers from last years batch, if they'd ever start laying.
The 1000 birds limit makes it hard to profitably
sell chickens. One can make money with non-CC birds, but they are way less
profitable. Kansans due care about
sustainability, they just don't necessarily want to pay for it. But some will. The problem is most of the guys
marketing organic or natural
chicken feed GMO grains and so set unrealistic price expectations in the market.
KDA is beholden to big ag and all they care about small farmers and direct marketers is how to get power over them (likely so we can be shut down at will or harassed to death). I havn't heard that they're going to shut down chicken sales but it wouldn't surprise me, they've been pushing extralegal requirements and spurious restrictive interpretations of the law for years.