Cage Free Chicken
Our chicken and eggs are all raised on pasture, where they head out into fresh grass daily to pick and the bugs and plants they find.
We raise Rustic Ranger chickens for meat, which is a heritage breed cross. They take longer to mature, but are worth the wait!
Our eggs come in many colours from a variety of different chicken breeds. They are fun, and great "for the 'gram"
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are they fed?
Our chickens have a pretty good variety to their diet.
As chicks, we start with specific chick feed with all the nutrients they need to grow and which comes in crushed "crumbs" making it easy for them to consume. Little chicks eat more than you think!
Once they move to pasture, we provide a specific broiler feed which has more protein to help them grow.
As they are on pasture, they also eat (and prefer!) whatever goodies they find - worms, grasshoppers, flies, maggots, etc. A favourite treat is bird seed, which we like to spoil them with sometimes!
Chickens are also great composters, and eat unwanted fruits and vegetables from the garden. We find they are less picky than pigs, actually!
Q: Where do you keep them?
Our broiler chickens are kept in a mobile shelter, which we move in a planned pattern over the pasture.
The shelter gives them protection from predators and shade from the sun, and the mobility lets us move them daily to fresh pasture to find new bugs! They are surrounded by a portable electric fence which keeps them in our planned grazing area and keeps predators out.
Fresh pasture provides entertainment as the birds love to forage for insects, and also keeps disease pressure down as manure is left behind daily. This breaks the cycle for disease as without chickens being present the pathogens have no host to latch on to and repeat their life cycle!
Q: Why do you keep rustic rangers if they take longer to grow?
The Rustic Ranger breed performs great on pasture, are smart foragers, and are not prone to heart attacks (ask us about "the storm" for proof) - overall they are very healthy birds!
As the bird is healthy and has more time mature, we believe the flavour is enhanced! Just like the way chicken used to taste (we've been told!)
Chicken from a chain store was raised in 6 weeks, where our birds take 12 weeks. They are a heritage-cross breed, combining the flavour of heritage breeds with the enhanced-growth of modern birds.
