About a month ago we ran out of our stock of frozen chicken, so we have been patiently waiting for our first batch of broilers to grow to butcher weight. Our Freedom Ranger broilers arrive on the farm in the mail as two-day old chicks. They spend three or four weeks in a brooder and then move out to pasture.
Most chickens raised in this country are Cornish Cross, a breed developed for the commercial poultry industry to put on a lot of meat in a short amount of time. They can be ready to butcher in as few as six weeks! However, when we raised this breed years ago, we were less than impressed. Yes, they grew quickly, but this seemed to come at the price of overall health and vitality. The birds rarely ventured far from their feeders to stretch their legs and hunt bugs. In contrast, our Freedom Rangers love to roam the pasture. The exercise and diverse diet—as well as a slower grow out, about nine to ten weeks—result in a better tasting bird.
Today, we process the summer’s first batch of broilers. They are butchered on the farm, air-chilled, packaged, and frozen as whole birds, and they’ll be available for farm shares starting next week. We hope to offer cut-up whole chickens, half-chicken portions, and individual parts such as breasts, legs, thighs, wings, frames, and feet later this summer.
Chicken dinner? Sounds like a winner.
Your farmers,
Jeff and Zach
