- Why are we more expensive than the supermarket? We raise a limited amount of poultry and provide much more space for each bird compared to commercial farmers. We also take extra time to observe each bird, make sure the food and water is clean and fresh, and provide fresh pasture everyday. Also, we don't buy the cheapest food available; we make sure that our birds are fed fresh greens and fresh organic chicken feed that is healthy, has the proper nutrients, and isn't medicated. We don't want to cram 10,000 birds into a shed to make a profit. And this goes for all our animals, whether meat or eggs, we strive to provide the best living conditions possible.
- Are farm visits allowed? Yes! We love having people come out and visit our farm, ask questions, and learn about farming. Please don't bring any animals with you, and be prepared to dip your shoes in disinfectant and wash your hands! Please email us or use the "Contact Us" page to arrange a farm visit.
- Why do we "free range" our birds? The food your birds consume is directly responsible for the quality of their eggs or meat; it is, therefore, crucial to start them off right on a true free-range chicken’s natural diet. A variety of greens, plants, worms and insects is enhanced by direct exposure to the sun, dirt and fresh air. It also encourages the birds’ natural tendency to begin to graze, exercise and roost. By eating insects and scratching and pecking in the soil, chickens access protein and many necessary minerals. Time spent on the pasture as pullets yields hardier hens that consistently produce high-quality eggs. These are the secret ingredients in the delicious eggs laid by hens lucky enough to free range. And after they’ve had their fill, they’ll scope out an inviting sunny patch of dry dirt and take a dust bath to keep their feathers healthy and clean.
- Why is local food important? There are many reasons buying local is important. First, it helps to stimulate and maintain your local economy. Second it takes fuel to run the tractors and equipment at the large farms, fuel for the large delivery trucks to the processing facility, and it takes fuel to just run the processing facility. The chicken is then loaded onto another large truck and shipped to the supermarket's warehouse. Finally, the chicken then waits at the supermarket's warehouse to be loaded onto another large truck for delivery to the supermarket itself. Our farm is not mechanized, the processing is done by hand, and we don't need a ton of fuel to deliver the chicken to you. So, by eating locally grown foods, you are actually reducing fuel use, pollution, and your global footprint. Lastly, you can actually visit the farm that produces the food you are eating. You can see what we do, how we do it, and ask questions; in some commercial operations you'd be escorted off the property by security and told not to come back!
- How do we farm differently than the big commercial growers? We are a small, family run farm. We can't and don't want to process 10,000 birds everyday. We don't want to cram 300,000 chickens into a hen house and have them live in squalor. We don't want to treat the chickens as a commodity that is merely a paycheck. Rather, we want to raise a small number of birds in ideal conditions, care for the birds properly, and respect them as the living animal that they are. We want to be proud of what we do and how we do it. We take our farming very seriously and understand the responsibility we have to the animals, the earth, and to those in our communities.
- Why aren't we Certified Organic? In order to be certified organic, a farmer must pay over $2,000 a year just to have the farm inspected. Although we would love to have the organic stamp, we don't feel it is a justifiable cost, we just aren't that big yet. Our goal is to farm in the same way as a "Certified" organic farm, we just don't pay for the label. According to the USDA, an organic farmer must not use hormones, antibiotics, or medications and they must feed a USDA approved organic feed from day one of the animals life. We do not administer hormones, vaccinations, antibiotics, or medications. We feel that having a 100% organic food source combined with our great treatment of the chickens in low population numbers, ideal living conditions, and pastureland to feed on, more than makes up for the organic label.