Our chickens are raised on a high protein vegetarian diet composed of products raised here on the farm. No animal by-products are ever fed to our chickens. Chicks are kept under a heat lamp until they are fully feathered. This is usually around 4 to 5 weeks depending on the breed we raise. Chickens are moved to pasture at this point. We raise our birds in large, open-bottom pens placed on green pasture. Birds are protect from predators in these pens, but still have enough free room for social interaction. The pens are partially covered to provide protection from the elements. Also, the pens provide both water and feed. Daily pen movement allows the birds continual access to fresh pasture.
We use this method to raise our chickens for several reasons. The foremost is good pasture management. This is pivotal for any grazing system. Chickens tend to remain close to their water and/or feed source. This area recieves a lot of traffic and would quickly become a dusty hardpan with little vegetation. To solve this, the water and feed troughs are moved constantly in each pen. This gives the vegetation time to recover and systematically provides that all the pasture is visited regularly by the flock. Since all the pasture is covered, the chicken manure is already spread over the pasture by the chickens. This fertilizes the pasture and keeps the chickens relatively clean. An added benefit to this constant movement is that parasites that can attack the chickens spend the early parts of their life cycle on the pasture vegetation. These parasites are left behind to with each movement, breaking their life cycle.
All of our stock comes from naturally mating, heritage bloodlines. These birds mature much slower in comparison to the commerical crosses which prevents many of the bone structure problems found in the commericial lines. We feel the meat from our birds tastes better because the birds have had adequate time to mature and grow. Birds are then processed around 12 weeks on the farm reducing the stress associated with hauling live birds long distances to custom processing facilities. We process all our birds by hand and take food safety seriously.
We feel that we provide a great tasting bird that has been grown in a more natural manner than those commonly found in the grocery store. All of our birds are grown and processed locally on our farm. How often can you say that you know where your food comes from?
