Pastured Chicken
About Our Chickens
We get our Red Ranger chicks at 2 days of age from a hatchery. Red Ranger birds are slower growing and forage better than the traditional Cornish Rock crosses most commonly found at commercial poultry farms. Our birds are healthy and very active right up to the their finished weights of 6 lbs. Birds are kept under a heat lamp until about 4 weeks of age and then they are turned out into the outside chicken tractor.
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What do they eat?

Our birds are fed a vegetable based complete starter ration of 24% protein in the first few weeks that we have them. At 4 weeks of age they are placed out on pasture to graze the different forages and insects in our hay field. At this point they are offered a gmo free grain ration to supplement them until they are ready for market. They are moved 2-3 times a day to fresh pasture to ensure an adequate supply of fresh forages and bugs.
Market Ready
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Birds are typically ready at 9 weeks of age depending on their growth rate over the time we have had them. Weather conditions can play a factor in their weight gain. They are processed at a Michigan USDA inspected facility in Homer, MI Stutzman's (formerly) Bontrager Poultry Processing. They typically dress out at 3.5-5.5 lbs and are processed as whole birds. They are vacuum sealed with a label that indicates the weight and where they were processed.
Currently we expect have chickens ready in June 2023, August 2023 and again in September 2023. Please let us know if you would like to get on our reservation list to get birds. They sell out fairly quick so it's good to get on the list so we know who to contact first. |