“Ah, that reminds me of my grandmother’s chicken!”: Stéphanie Hérault’s passionate breeding on the Larzac

Stéphanie Hérault raises chickens and guinea fowl for direct sales. Always with an extreme concern for quality. D.R

The chickens on the farm enjoy vast spaces. D.R

Chickens, guinea fowl and capons are raised outdoors with passion near La Couvertoirade at the "Volailles des Tronquiers".

Plateau du Larzac. On the road to La Couvertoirade, the small village of La Blaquerie. Open air, calm and greenery. An ideal setting for raising poultry. This is, in any case, the choice that Stéphanie Hérault made. A choice that owes little to chance but rather everything to family atavism. “My father, my grandfather… for several generations we have been running a sheep farm here in La Blaquerie. My grandmother passed on a lot of her knowledge to me.”

The choice of direct sales

But the young woman did not have this professional choice at the start. “I did a science baccalaureate, followed by a DUT in agri-food in Montpellier before becoming, via an apprenticeship, a pharmacy assistant in the Gard and then in Millau. But an unfortunate event pushed me to change direction when my twins were born. I wanted to take care of their education while working.” Back to my roots. With the choice, from the start, to work only in direct sales. “Supplying wholesalers involves large quantities of 30-35 day old chicken, therefore low-end.”

Stéphanie has deliberately set a course for quality. “I work outdoors on large surfaces, more than 3000 m2 per building, so the chickens and guinea fowls have space to go out. The breeding lasts at least 120 days, which gives better quality meat. I wanted to find the taste again. And when customers tell me “ah, that reminds me of my grandmother's chicken”… that's the best compliment! In the area, people prefer to see and know how the animals are raised rather than stick to labels.”

Capons and pullets for the holidays

A direct sale that goes through a Facebook page.“I have a project to create a website for 2025. I also make deliveries every two weeks to Sauclières. And, once a week, I go to L'Hospitalet du Larzac, Millau, La Cavalerie for pre-orders of eggs, poultry.” Poultry (chickens and guinea fowl) joined in the run-up to Christmas, for three years, by capons and pullets who arrived on the farm last July, already six weeks old. “At my place, they have had time to grow…” In the end, the capons weigh between 4 and 5 kg. “They finish wheat and corn before milk at the beginning of December.”

The end-of-year holidays are also a peak for guinea fowls between 1.8 kg and 2.2 kg. “They are reserved until mid-January. But a nice chicken, well prepared, can also be a treat” insists Stephanie. As for eggs.“I have regular customers who take twelve, twenty-four and sometimes even thirty-six a week. Eggs remain an inexpensive protein, easy to cook.” And the markets in all this ? “I do them occasionally. In particular last summer three night markets in the area to make myself known. In January I will launch at the new market every second Wednesday of the month at La Cavalerie.”

Buzzard attacks

A real woman orchestrates the breeder slaughters, plucks and empties without thinking about processing. “We have converted part of the garage which could, in a few years, become a cutting room in order to offer fillets and thighs because young people do not cook a whole chicken which weighs from 2.3 kg to 3.8 kg for the largest. But no canned goods because that requires very heavy investments.”

Passionate, Stéphanie Hérault always has the well-being of her poultry in her sights. “The buildings are insulated and well ventilated to withstand periods of high heat. The animals are then smaller. I have had attacks by birds of prey, buzzards on the farm. Now as soon as a bird approaches, the poultry return to shelter. And I have a border who also intervenes.” As for the wolf, fences 1.80 m high discourage. “I saw one recently during a walk in the middle of the day.”