A picture from the Facebook page of Southtown Farms in Mahwah, NJ. I've seen the chickens running around in the yard myself.
From New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/opinion/kristof-arsenic-in-our-chicken.html?_r=0#h[]
As many of you know, big agriculture never lets you know what chemicals it feeds to or stuffs into animals. But scientists wanted to find out so they did something similar to what researchers do when testing for chemicals in humans; they test bird feathers. Just like our fingernails, feathers accumulate chemicals and drugs an animal is exposed to. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and Arizona State University tested feather meal -- a byproduct made of ground-up poultry feathers commonly added to chicken, swine, cattle and fish feed. Yup, it's fed to these animals which we then consume.
Back in April, 2012, a study was published in Environmental Science & Technology. They found that feather meal routinely contained a banned class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. These antibiotics (such as Cipro) can breed antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” that harm humans.
The same study also found that one-third of feather-meal samples contained an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl. The great majority of feather meal contained acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.
Another study in Science and Total Environment reported that they found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested. Almost 9 in 10 broiler chickens in the United States had been fed arsenic, according to a 2011 industry estimate. Now, this was found in the feathers. I admit, I'm not sure it gets to the meat, but why take that kind of chance?
The findings will surprise some poultry farmers because even they often don’t know what chemicals they feed their birds. Huge food companies require farmers to use a proprietary food mix, and the farmer typically doesn’t know exactly what is in it.
If you're going to eat chicken, spend a little more and buy organic or better yet, from a local farm which raises chickens. I have one right up the road in Mahwah. He also sells at the Ramsey Farm Market. Here's a link to his Facebook page (no need to be a Facebook member to read all about it) - https://www.facebook.com/southtownfarms/info. If you live in the area, check it out at the Ramsey Farm Market on Sundays - http://www.ramseyfarmersmarket.org/.
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