Our Birds
All poultry on our farm, from the ducks and geese to the
meat chickens and layer hens, are raised as naturally and humanely as possible.
All meat chickens are day ranged on pasture and locked up at night to
protect them from predators. The layer hens have a more permanent home, but are
allowed to range as far as they want and then return home at night to be locked
up. Ducks and geese, likewise, are allowed to roam free all day then they return
to be locked up at night.
We use no medications or growth stimulants in our feed to
enhance feed conversion. Most of our grains are grown here on the farm and then
with the help of a poultry nutritionist, a balanced feed ration is formulated to
supplement whatever the chickens can scratch up in the pasture. We use
antibiotics only as a last resort and then band that bird for later
identification.
We process small batches of birds here on the farm for ‘on
farm’ sales and take larger batches of birds to an approved facility for processing
for commercial sales. The birds are aged in bags to retain moisture on ice for 2 – 3 days
to be sold fresh, then
they are frozen to be sold later. The birds are bled out completely and
cleanly eviscerated so you won't have to worry about finding anything that doesn't belong there!
Meat Production Birds
We raise 2 types of meat birds for use as fryers,
broilers, roasters and capons. We use a scale of 0 – 12, with 0 being
bland taste/soft texture, and 12 being gamey taste/grainy texture to help you
know what you are getting. Typically, grocery store chicken falls in the
category of 0 – 2.
 Our preferred bird is a
standard slow growing
Label Rouge type bird that will finish out in about 9 – 10 weeks for
about 4 - 5 pounds of meat. We can let these birds grow longer to reach
approximately 8 – 10 pounds for a nice roaster size without any problems. We
especially like the slow growing birds as they are easy keepers, graze quite
aggressively and as a result have a firm texture, a great chicken flavor and
good breast size. On the above scale, this bird is an 8.
 The other bird we raise is a
heavy breasted Cornish Rock hybrid. This bird has been bred to finish out in
approximately 6 weeks for about 4 – 6 pounds of meat. Unfortunately, the problem
with these hybrids is that since they were developed to put the meat on fast,
their bone and circulatory systems can’t keep up, so they suffer leg and heart
problems usually resulting in an early death. Using the scale above, this bird
will be a 5-6 since we day range them on pasture and limit their supplemental
feed which forces them to be more active in their search for food. You
will find a vast difference in taste and texture from this same bird you
purchase in the grocery store.
Capons
Both the standard and the hybrid
chickens make good capons, but there again, the standard bird takes
longer to finish, has good chicken flavor, a standard breast size and no growing
problems while the hybrid finishes quicker, has more meat, less flavor and more
growing problems. Either bird you choose will still be a far cry from grocery
store capon. Both these birds will weigh in at approximately 12-15 pounds and
you will love the juicy, succulent meat and the wonderful gravy they make.
Game Birds
This year we will be offering Coturnix quail. These birds will start laying
eggs at about 6 - 7 weeks old and can be consumed at 11 - 12 weeks old.
They will only weigh approximately 4 - 5 ounces when dressed so more than
one will be needed for a meal.
Egg Production Birds
We offer eggs from day ranging geese, ducks and chickens.
Usually duck and geese eggs are only available in the spring months, but chicken
eggs are available all year around. While we have mostly production hybrid layer
hens, we
also have several standard/heritage layers also. We have an assortment of ducks
including Mallards, Indian Runners and Welsh Harlequin and our geese breeds are
White and Brown Chinese and American Buff.
Quail eggs will be available this year also. We are
going to 'try' to pasture them in secure pens, but since they are a true game
bird, we might loose a few in our experiment. The eggs weigh about 1/3 ounces
each so several will be needed for a meal. Since these eggs are quite pretty,
they could also be blown and used to create jewelry and/or filled with chocolate
for gift giving.
Goose and duck eggs are excellent for baked goods such as
breads, cakes and cookies; if you have never baked with them, you will
definitely notice the difference. Goose and duck egg whites don't tend to whip
as well as chicken eggs so they are not a good choice for meringues and angel
food cakes. They are excellent eating in any other way one would use chicken
eggs.
See
here for the
Nutritional Comparison of Duck and Chicken Eggs.
We also have in limited quantity very tiny eggs, called
pullet eggs, that come from young hens that are first starting to lay. These are great
for young children that can't eat a whole large egg and also good for
blowing and filling with chocolate.
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