Fresh Chicken Processed on Farm

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• Freshly processed chicken must be arranged at least one day in advance 

• Availability is seasonal, not all options are available at all time

• We recommend waiting at least 24 hours after processing to cook your chicken

We offer various types of free-range chicken. We regularly take chicken to state or federally-licensed processors for sale at farmer's markets and online sales; chicken processed by licensed butchers is available frozen in our online store. Additionally, we offer chicken processed on-farm, that customers can pick up within hours of processing. You MUST contact us the day before you want to pick up, so that we can catch the chicken and withdraw feed ahead of time.

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We sell the following types of chickens; we may not have all chicken available at all times, please contact us to inquire.

• Freedom Ranger Hybrid Chickens: These chickens are not too different from the chicken you find in the grocery store, with a large breast and relatively quick growth. However, Freedom Rangers are slower growing and more active than their industrial counterparts, and will happily forage for food outside on pasture, rather than just park themselves next to a feeder. Freedom Rangers must be purchased from hatcheries and reach market weight (3-6 lbs dressed) in 10-12 weeks. Their meat is more toothsome and flavorful than store-bought chicken, but still tender enough for cooking in any manner.

• American Bresse Heritage Chickens: These chickens are a slow-growing breed originally developed in France, and are famed for their extremely rich and juicy meat. Like all non-industrial chicken breeds, they have a small breast compared to grocery store chicken. Most of our Bresse chicken is hatched here on the farm, and takes 16-20 weeks to reach a market size of 2-4 lbs dressed. When we take multiple Bresse to a processor, we usually keep them in captivity for about 10 days before slaughter and feed them a rich diet of grain soaked in milk so their meat is rich and more tender. These chickens have the juiciest breast meat we have ever eaten. They are best suited for roasting and braising.

• Heritage Breed Stewing Chickens: These are various breeds of hens and roosters, at least 6 months old for roosters and 2 years for hens. After that age, the amount of eggs a hen lays declines, making them less desirable to keep for egg production. After a happy life of running around, these chickens have tough meat that must be stewed for several hours in order to become soft, due to the large amount of connective tissue. However, they yield extremely tasty broth and are ideal for soups and stews. We will occasionally sell younger hens for meat, but if they are still young and producing eggs, expect to pay $20-30 each for them!

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Chicken Cost

• Price per pound (note -- "live" means you are buying a live chicken and taking it away to your house, "processed" means that we kill, pluck, and eviscerate your chicken for you)

  • Freedom Ranger: $2.5/lb alive or $5/lb processed​​​

  • American Bresse: $3.5/lb alive or $7/lb processed

  • Stewing Hen/Rooster: $1.75/lb alive or $3.5/lb processed

  • Young Ducks, Heritage Turkeys: $4/lb alive or $8/lb processed

• Processing options -- if you request the "spare" parts back, they will be included in the per-pound cost of your chicken

  • Standard (whole chicken; no giblets, feet, head)

  • Traditional (whole chicken with head, neck, and feet attached)

  • Return giblets (liver, gizzard, and heart)

  • Return giblets + head, neck, feet, all separated from whole bird

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unless you are going to cook your chicken within 1 hour of slaughter, we recommend that you let your chicken rest for a minimum of 8 hours after slaughter -- for best results, let your chicken rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before eating. This is to let rigor mortis pass and allow the chicken to become more tender.

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At this time, we do not provide processing services for chickens raised off our farm, or rent out our processing equipment.

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