16/07/2026
Why you might not always find chicken breasts or thighs in our display…
At Cleaver & Co, we’re always trying to find the right balance between quality, convenience, and reducing waste.
Recently, we tried using slightly larger free range chickens. The idea was simple. Bigger chickens meant larger breasts and thighs, helping us keep more of the cuts that sell the fastest.
But after listening to your feedback, we realised something important.
The quality just wasn’t the same.
So we’ve gone back to the smaller free range chickens you’ve always known and loved. We’d rather have the best eating quality, even if it means having a little less of the cuts everyone wants.
This photo helps explain why.
The single thigh and breast at the bottom show what one chicken produces. The groups above are approximately 1kg of thighs and 1kg of breasts.
As a whole animal butcher, there are only two breasts and two thighs on every chicken. That means around 1kg of thighs comes from roughly four chickens. Every time those thighs leave the shop, we also need to find homes for the wings, drumsticks, frames and the rest of those birds.
Our fresh free range chicken arrives every Tuesday and Friday, so by Monday or Thursday it is possible that we have limited supply or have sold out of breasts or thighs. If you know ahead of time what you need please call ahead and place an order to avoid disappointment.
The good news is we nearly always have plenty of wings and drumsticks available, and because we believe in using the whole bird, we run this special every day:
2KG SPECIAL WINGS/DRUMSTICKS FOR JUST $16
At the end of the day, being a whole animal butcher means making decisions that respect the animal, support our farmers and deliver the best quality possible.
Thank you for your feedback. It helped us make the right decision. We appreciate your understanding when your favourite cuts aren’t always available, because we’d much rather sell you exceptional chicken than compromise on quality.