POULTRY & EGGS

Our poultry are raised cage free and range on fresh pasture during the season. They are fed local grain and are given no hormones or antibiotics. Chickens play an important role on Our Farm by adding and recycling nutrients, aerating pastures, controlling insects and turning compost in their deep-bedding greenhouses during the winter.

Fresh or Fresh-Frozen Pasture Raised Broilers

We raise our "broilers" in pens on pasture, to protect them from predators (everyone loves chicken) and to manage their manure more effectively. They are moved at least once a day to a fresh pasture. The rest of their diet is made up of local grains, a vitamin and mineral supplement, and a probiotic. They receive no hormones, antibiotics, or animal by-products (our chickens don’t eat chickens or cows), are treated humanely and are kept in small natural groups of about 70 birds. This arrangement allows the birds to express their "chickeness"; they are able to interact with one another, chase bugs, sunbathe and take dust-baths. Such a healthy lifestyle results in a superior bird. The meat has a better taste, is firmer in texture, has a lower cooking weight loss and is lower in saturated fats than conventionally raised chickens.

Our birds are processed right on the premises by our farmers using clean well water. We do not use chlorine baths like some other commercial operations.

Fresh Brown Eggs

Our laying hens live on pasture in a mobile chicken house surrounded by a portable acre electric fence during the grazing season, the whole operation is moved weekly to fresh grass. During the late fall and winter months, the hens are housed in a deep-bedding greenhouse where they spend their time picking through table scraps and bedding looking for insects and worms. The rest of their diet is made up of local grains. They receive no hormones, antibiotics, or animal by-products. They live in small groups, establish a natural pecking order, and lay their eggs in nesting boxes. Happy hens make healthy eggs, and the difference is definitely visible. The result is dark orange yolks that stand up in the pan and are easily separated from the whites without breaking.