Chickens come home to roast

There’s the beaches, the forests, the fresh food, the cheese, of course, and the people.

And now, there’s an addition – chickens, or roast chooks to be precise.

Bega Valley Pasture-Fed Chicken scored in the top 10 of a chicken meat taste test conducted by the Sydney Morning Herald last week, the small local grower beating some of the country’s major chicken producers.

Margaret Fulton, the First Lady of Australian cookbook authors, was among the panel of judges that included prominent growers, chefs and retailers, and they voted Bega Valley Pasture-Fed Chicken ninth out of 16 samples.

Proprietor Antony Radocaj, who farms at Wandella, said it was a pleasant surprise to be recognised, especially as he’s only been supplying chicken produce for seven weeks, although he’s not getting caught up in the hype.

“The article was quite positive in some ways, but I just want to focus on producing quality chicken meat,” he said.

For Mr Radocaj, that means growing chickens in a stress-free, uncrowded and healthy environment and the results have been outstanding, according to those in Sydney and Canberra restaurants who’ve sampled it.

“It’s very tender and tasty,” he said.

“The chicken is an excellent animal and given the opportunity can produce outstanding meat.”

A keen student of permaculture and sustainable agriculture, Mr Radocaj first came to the Bega area 15 years ago.

“I was inspired by Bill Mollison (credited as one of the Australian scientists who developed the sustainable land use design) back in 1995 to get into permaculture and looked at different places around the country where it would work,” he said.

“The Bega Valley was ideal for a lot of reasons so I came here all those years ago and had chickens and other livestock.”

He is a licensed builder and went to work in Sydney, where he met his wife and his three children were born, but his passion for agriculture was still strong.

“The burning desire to get back to Bega was always there and it drew me back,” he said.

That was only a few months ago and since he started to supply wholesalers and retailers, his business has grown to producing 600 birds a week.

He credits the quality of his birds to low stocking density which eliminates stress, good food, clean water, access to the elements “to give them that backyard quality”, and access to good pasture.

“I figure that if we look after the birds, then the birds will look after us,” he said.

If you want to sample Bega Pasture-Fed Chickens, they’re available in the Valley at the produce markets in Bega, Tilba, Candelo and Merimbula.

To learn more about Mr Radocaj’s farm, visit www.pasturefedchicken .com.au