2020 Plans
We have settled on raising 75 Freedom Rangers & 45 Cornish X's for the 2020 season.
Our demand for chicken sky rocketed last fall so while I think we'll have plenty to fill demand it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact us via email and let me know how many birds you are looking for in advance.
Thank you again for your continued support
We have settled on raising 75 Freedom Rangers & 45 Cornish X's for the 2020 season.
Our demand for chicken sky rocketed last fall so while I think we'll have plenty to fill demand it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact us via email and let me know how many birds you are looking for in advance.
Thank you again for your continued support
We pride ourselves on humanely raising 50-150 meat chickens every year. I've found that most of our customers know very little about how chickens are raised and processed and we love providing answers to all of their questions. If you find that you'd like some more information about our practices please feel free to email us.
We primarily raise two varieties of chickens, Freedom Rangers & Jumbo Cornish X. Our Freedom Rangers come from a hatchery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where the breed was developed. Freedom Rangers are a nice middle ground between fast growing "broiler" chickens (like the Cornish X's) and the slow growing heritage breeds that were the norm 100 years ago. Freedom Rangers take 9-11 weeks to mature and are able to forage naturally on pasture. These birds are raised outdoors on our back acre in a chicken tractor (a chicken tractor is a movable pen that sits flat on the grass so the chickens can eat grass and bugs along with their feed). The chicken tractor is moved daily so the Freedom Rangers get fresh food every day. Freedom Rangers have a proportionate body type that allows them to stay mobile as they grow. This body type also gives them a nice balance of white to dark meat. These birds finish out at a weight of 5.5-7.5lbs and are very flavorful.
We also raise Jumbo Cornish X chickens. These are your typical fast growing meat chickens. They take 6-8 weeks to mature and basically just like to sit and eat. Cornish varieties are usually associated with typical factory farm chicken production due to their fast growth rate and lack of need for much space. We raise only a select number of these birds as they tend to have health problems when raised on a large scale and if raised in any sort of stressful conditions. For this reason, we elect to only raise these birds in the spring or early summer months before the weather gets too hot. Cornish are not known for their free ranging abilities due to their body type and as they mature they become less and less mobile. This past year, we raised our Cornish in an outdoor pen, protected from rain, on straw that we changed regularly. We feel strongly that it's important to raise our birds in the fresh air vs in a barn setting like factory farms. We are planning to attempt to raise them on pasture, like our Ranger chickens, to see if this results in any benefits to the birds or their meat. Cornish X chickens have been selectively bred to produce a disproportionate amount of white meat. This contributes to their lack of mobility as they grow but also means that when processed, the bird will have more white meat than dark meat. Cornish X's are very similar to your standard "grocery store" chicken.
All of our birds are fed a local Non-GMO feed. State and Federal Organic Standards prevent us from claiming we raise "Organic" chickens as we would be subject to state inspections and hefty regulation fees that would essentially make it impossible to continue our farming. With that being said, the feed we offer our birds is non-GMO and has no contact with pesticides. Our land is also not treated with any sort of chemical or pesticides. You can read between the lines ;)
Also, due to government regulations, we are unable to sell our birds anywhere other than on our farm, direct to customers. This is because we process our birds on our own farm and do not ship them out to be processed at a government inspected facility. We feel strongly that our processes and procedures are both sanitary and allow the birds to be humanely killed in a stress free setting. This also allows us to keep costs down as paying to process our birds at an inspected facility would no doubt add a few dollars to the retail price of the meat. If you have any questions about how we raise, process, or package our birds please feel free to reach out to us on our "Contact" page.
We primarily raise two varieties of chickens, Freedom Rangers & Jumbo Cornish X. Our Freedom Rangers come from a hatchery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where the breed was developed. Freedom Rangers are a nice middle ground between fast growing "broiler" chickens (like the Cornish X's) and the slow growing heritage breeds that were the norm 100 years ago. Freedom Rangers take 9-11 weeks to mature and are able to forage naturally on pasture. These birds are raised outdoors on our back acre in a chicken tractor (a chicken tractor is a movable pen that sits flat on the grass so the chickens can eat grass and bugs along with their feed). The chicken tractor is moved daily so the Freedom Rangers get fresh food every day. Freedom Rangers have a proportionate body type that allows them to stay mobile as they grow. This body type also gives them a nice balance of white to dark meat. These birds finish out at a weight of 5.5-7.5lbs and are very flavorful.
We also raise Jumbo Cornish X chickens. These are your typical fast growing meat chickens. They take 6-8 weeks to mature and basically just like to sit and eat. Cornish varieties are usually associated with typical factory farm chicken production due to their fast growth rate and lack of need for much space. We raise only a select number of these birds as they tend to have health problems when raised on a large scale and if raised in any sort of stressful conditions. For this reason, we elect to only raise these birds in the spring or early summer months before the weather gets too hot. Cornish are not known for their free ranging abilities due to their body type and as they mature they become less and less mobile. This past year, we raised our Cornish in an outdoor pen, protected from rain, on straw that we changed regularly. We feel strongly that it's important to raise our birds in the fresh air vs in a barn setting like factory farms. We are planning to attempt to raise them on pasture, like our Ranger chickens, to see if this results in any benefits to the birds or their meat. Cornish X chickens have been selectively bred to produce a disproportionate amount of white meat. This contributes to their lack of mobility as they grow but also means that when processed, the bird will have more white meat than dark meat. Cornish X's are very similar to your standard "grocery store" chicken.
All of our birds are fed a local Non-GMO feed. State and Federal Organic Standards prevent us from claiming we raise "Organic" chickens as we would be subject to state inspections and hefty regulation fees that would essentially make it impossible to continue our farming. With that being said, the feed we offer our birds is non-GMO and has no contact with pesticides. Our land is also not treated with any sort of chemical or pesticides. You can read between the lines ;)
Also, due to government regulations, we are unable to sell our birds anywhere other than on our farm, direct to customers. This is because we process our birds on our own farm and do not ship them out to be processed at a government inspected facility. We feel strongly that our processes and procedures are both sanitary and allow the birds to be humanely killed in a stress free setting. This also allows us to keep costs down as paying to process our birds at an inspected facility would no doubt add a few dollars to the retail price of the meat. If you have any questions about how we raise, process, or package our birds please feel free to reach out to us on our "Contact" page.
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