Although little in a conventional grocery store is appealing, one product I've bought with measured confidence in the past (before raising our own chickens) was "all natural, no antibiotic" Tyson chicken. Surely, this was a better choice than factory-farm chicken, right?

Wrong!

According to the November 9, 2008, issue of Natural News, Tyson, the world's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has been found to regularly inject antibiotics into their eggs 2-3 days before hatching. They claim their chicks are raised without antibiotics since "in ovo" pertains to the egg, not the chicken.  Tyson also raises its chickens on feed containing ionophores, classified by the USDA as antibiotics. Tyson states ionophores are antimicrobials, not antibiotics. And the difference is?

To read the entire article, click here.

This type of behavior on the part of big companies such as Tyson is insulting. We have the right to know  what is in the food we eat. We deserve to know.

According to Mercola.com, Campylobacter is responsible for food poisoning in more than 1 million Americans every year and is considered a growing health threat. A study by Johns Hopkins tested chickens from Tyson, as well as other major manufacturers, and found the chickens 460 times MORE likely to have antibiotic-resistant strains of Campylobacter.  They use antibiotics prior to hatching, feed their chickens antibiotic-laced feed and still have antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in their meat.  How bad can their chicken raising/processing be for this to happen?  Please do a search on YouTube.com for "Tyson chicken" to view some of the undercover videos and employee interviews to get a glimpse of their process.  It is beyond disgusting.

We are what we eat EATS. If the chicken we consume was fed antibiotics, those antibiotics end up in us.

It is estimated that 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States for humans are also given to animals used for food (REF: Jeff Gelles, “Why Antibiotics in Meat Should Give You Pause.)  The result is that when you get sick, the antibiotics your doctor prescribes may no longer work.

In an U.S. Department of Agriculture study, researchers found that 67 percent of chicken samples and 66 percent of beef samples were contaminated with “superbugs” that could not be killed with antibiotics (REF: David Perlman, “Doctors Seek to Limit Antibiotics on Farms; S.F. Group Also Decries Excess Use By Humans,” San Francisco Chronicle).

A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office warns, “Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been transferred from animals to humans, and many of the studies we reviewed found that this transference poses significant risks for human health” (REF: General Accounting Office, Antibiotic Resistance: Federal Agencies Need to Better Focus Efforts to Address Risk to Humans From Antibiotic Use in Animals.)

Two major antibiotics are quickly becoming worthless due to factory farms' widespread use. These include Vancomycin, used to treat blood infections and pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus bacteria, and gentamicin, used to treat Campylobacter infections in humans (REF: Consumers Union SWRO.)

On Yonder Way Farm, we do not use antibiotics in any capacity.  We do not use growth hormones, vaccines or chemicals on or in our animals, our pastures or our feed.

Healthy animals do not need antibiotics.  When animals have opportunity to live in their natural environment and eat food compatible with their breed, they don't get sick and they don't need antibiotics.

Pure, clean, healthful meat... that's what you get with Yonder Way Farm chicken.  Enjoy!