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PGI — Label Rouge — Midi-Pyrénées
Poulet fermier du Gers: tender white meat, reared free-range under the Gers sun, a delicate, mild flavour — Gascon poultry excellence born of a union between hardy breeds and cereals of the terroir.
Free-range poultry from Midi-Pyrénées, PGI (IGP) since 1996.
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Across the Gascon plain, the Gers has always combined mixed farming and livestock rearing: until the 1950s, every family farm kept diverse poultry — laying hens, table chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks — intended primarily for household needs. As the leading cereal-producing département of Midi-Pyrénées, the Gers naturally provided the wheat and maize that formed the staple diet of this farmyard poultry.
Surplus production was gradually sold on the traditional markets of Fleurance, Séissan, Samatan, Mirande, and Gimont. In the 1960s, the first producer groups emerged, keen to gain better control over rearing techniques; in 1975, these groups joined forces with the département's abattoirs to establish the Association avicole du Gers (Avigers), with the aim of securing a more reliable commercial outlet and promoting the origin and quality of Gers poultry. Today, Avigers brings together around 300 poultry farmers in the Gers and neighbouring départements.
Official recognition came first via the Label Rouge, obtained in 1977, then through the PGI in 1996 — nineteen years later —, endorsing a quality-driven approach that was already firmly established. Today, Volailles du Gers are found on Gascon markets and throughout France, the symbol of mindful rearing that rejects the compromises of intensive poultry farming.
Gers poultry, whether whole or in cuts, features a rounded carcass with plump breasts and meaty thighs, firm flesh, and thin skin — characteristics directly linked to a late slaughter age and permanent access to the outdoor range. Reared free-range, it benefits from favourable growing conditions that give it its distinctive character and flavour.
Raw, the scent is subtle and lightly cereal-like, reflecting a diet rich in cereals. Once cooked, the meat releases aromas of butter and roast poultry. The flavour is fine, mild, and slightly herbaceous — meat that does not need to be masked by heavy sauces to be delicious.
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The chicks, bred from hardy, slow-growing strains, have continuous daytime access to a grassy, tree-planted outdoor range from the age of six weeks for chickens, capons, and poulardes (seven weeks for turkeys, eight for guinea fowl). Each rearing site has no more than 400 m² of housing, and the outdoor range provides at least 2 m² per chicken — increased to 4 m² per capon after 91 days —, allowing the true expression of natural behaviours: scratching, pecking, and dust-bathing.
Feed is made up of 100% plant products, minerals, and vitamins, with a minimum of 80% cereals and cereal derivatives during the fattening phase for chickens, capons, poulardes, and turkeys — with no requirement for these cereals to originate in the Gers. The minimum rearing period is 81 days for farmhouse chicken (100 days for grey chicken) — nearly double the standard industrial 42 days —, which allows for muscular development and the build-up of the fat reserves responsible for flavour. The poularde is reared for at least 120 days, and the capon for at least 150 days, traditionally for the end-of-year festive season.
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Poulet fermier du Gers lends itself to all the classic preparations of Gascon cuisine: oven-roasted in goose fat, poached with vegetables, in a fricassee with wild woodland mushrooms, or simply pan-sautéed with garlic and flat-leaf parsley. Its firm flesh withstands long cooking without falling apart, and its natural fat allows it to remain succulent without frequent basting.
Wine pairings naturally complement Gascon dishes: a crisp, aromatic white Côtes de Gascogne for a light roast chicken, a full-bodied Madiran for a dish braised in wine, flambéed Armagnac for chicken with cèpes. For the festive season, a Gers capon pairs magnificently with a mineral dry Jurançon or a white Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh.
Volailles du Gers PGI include several categories: farmhouse chicken — yellow, white, or black (81 days minimum), grey chicken (100 days minimum), poularde (120 days minimum), capon (150 days minimum, traditionally reserved for the festive season), as well as farmhouse guinea fowl, farmhouse turkey, and farmhouse Muscovy duck from the Gers. Canard à foie gras du Sud-Ouest, produced under a separate PGI, shares the same Gers terroir but is governed by a different specification.
Since: 1996
Area covered: Gers + neighbouring cantons (31, 40, 47, 64, 65, 82)
Key requirements: Hardy, slow-growing strains, min. 81 days of rearing (chicken), access to outdoor range from 6 weeks, min. 80% cereals during fattening
Since: 1977
Area covered: Gers + neighbouring cantons (31, 40, 47, 64, 65, 82)
Key requirements: 19 years prior to the PGI; same free-range rearing conditions
Association
Cooperative
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Fermiers du Gers operates two slaughterhouses in the département, in Condom and in Saramon — the latter more focused on label-certified poultry. The company is majority-owned by the cooperative group Fermiers du Sud-Ouest, alongside the Vivadour, Euralis, and Terres du Sud cooperatives brought together in the holding company Les Fermiers Occitans.
The group's Gers division develops the PGI (IGP) « Gers » brand: free-range farmhouse poultry, certified Label Rouge since 1977 and PGI Volailles du Gers, fed on more than 75% cereals, including maize mostly produced by the farmers themselves. The poultry is distributed whole or cut into portions, in supermarkets and the foodservice sector. The group has production areas in the Landes, the Gers, and the Périgord, with sites in Saint-Sever and Pontonx-sur-l'Adour (40), Saramon and Condom (32), and Terrasson-Lavilledieu (24).
| Address | Rte d'Eauze, 32100 Condom, France |
| +33 5 62 28 26 88 | |
| fermiers-so.fr | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2018. |
