We raise meat chickens in batches of 150 that we get from a hatchery roughly 40 miles from our farmstead and feed with grain milled less than 20 miles from our farmstead. We get our chicks from the hatchery’s non-GMO line. The similarly non-GMO grain comes from fields not treated with chemical fertilizers or pesticides; the grain fields are kept fertile through careful crop rotations and the use of cover crops. As the farmer who grows our grain says, “The land will keep itself fertile if you know how to treat it.” We start the chicks in our house or garage. When they have enough feathers to keep them warm, we move them to the barn or the pasture depending on the weather. We aim to raise them as humanely, naturally, and organically as possible. We want them to look and act like chickens throughout their lives. As Gabe Brown says, “Our animals have one good life, and one bad day.” We raise food primarily for ourselves and secondarily for our community, so we care as much as anyone how it’s raised, how it tastes, and how it nourishes our bodies and souls. We say a prayer of thanksgiving for the life of every animal we slaughter.

If you are interested in purchasing some of our tasty and nourishing chicken, raised locally and humanely, see our breakdown of the cost of a meat chicken.