We'd like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who purchased chicken from us this year! We appreciate your business and hope to see you again in 2021.
2021 Plans
We have settled on raising 60 Rangers & 60 Cornish X's for the 2021 season.
As of right now we hope to have no issues raising 60 Rangers from Freedom Rangers Hatchery (like we usually do), however, the pandemic drastically effected most hatcheries' ability to keep up with demand. We've noticed that as of right now the main hatchery we use is requiring a 1,000 chick minimum to purchase from them while other hatcheries are simply showing as "out of stock". We hope this situation improves in 2021 but given it does not we do have a preliminary plan in place involving breeding our own ranger-style meat chicks. I'll keep this site updated as this situation develops early next year. As of right now we see no issue in raising 60 Cornish Cross birds in 2021.
Thank you again for your continued support.
We have settled on raising 60 Rangers & 60 Cornish X's for the 2021 season.
As of right now we hope to have no issues raising 60 Rangers from Freedom Rangers Hatchery (like we usually do), however, the pandemic drastically effected most hatcheries' ability to keep up with demand. We've noticed that as of right now the main hatchery we use is requiring a 1,000 chick minimum to purchase from them while other hatcheries are simply showing as "out of stock". We hope this situation improves in 2021 but given it does not we do have a preliminary plan in place involving breeding our own ranger-style meat chicks. I'll keep this site updated as this situation develops early next year. As of right now we see no issue in raising 60 Cornish Cross birds in 2021.
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 Cross. Our Freedom Rangers come from a hatchery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 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 9-12 weeks to mature and are able to forage naturally on pasture. These birds are raised outdoors 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 forage 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 Cross 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. Cornish are not known for their free ranging abilities due to their body type and as they mature they become less and less mobile. In 2020, we began raising our Cornish Cross in a small tractor like the Rangers. They did surprisingly well and we plan to continue this method going forward. Cornish Cross 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 Cross'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 along with 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. We currently only sell our birds whole in shrink wrapped bags (see photo at top). 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 Cross. Our Freedom Rangers come from a hatchery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 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 9-12 weeks to mature and are able to forage naturally on pasture. These birds are raised outdoors 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 forage 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 Cross 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. Cornish are not known for their free ranging abilities due to their body type and as they mature they become less and less mobile. In 2020, we began raising our Cornish Cross in a small tractor like the Rangers. They did surprisingly well and we plan to continue this method going forward. Cornish Cross 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 Cross'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 along with 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. We currently only sell our birds whole in shrink wrapped bags (see photo at top). 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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