Hello Everyone!
Processing day has come and gone, and it was very successful. Our initial expectations were to raise chickens that approached the pastured broiler industry standard of about 4 lb., but we blew that out of the water, and we believe the credit belongs largely to the stress-free environment in which the birds grew, as well as the delicious (to chickens) smorgasbord of bugs and fresh grass made available to them each day. The paths the chickens followed in our pasture are now significantly greener from the nitrogen they spread, so the benefit is symbiotic.
Our average bird ended up weighing 6.3 lb. dressed! Although this efficiency of production was a pleasant surprise for us, it did produce some mild sticker-shock for some of you that bought from us. That shock was quickly abated once I was able to convey that, yes, the birds were more expensive than anticipated since we sell by the pound, but we are essentially selling 2 chickens worth of meat with each broiler. We have received plentiful feedback and everyone is pleased with the taste and texture of the finished product. It was a pleasure to raise these chickens, and that pleasure is only increased knowing that they are bringing pleasure to the people enjoying them with their families.
We are considering creating some sort of discount program for people that buy in bulk, such as buy 6 get one free, or possibly a subscription program that allows us to better forecast sales and reduce costs. We are absolutely open to suggestions on what would work for you since, right now, our customers are literally our friends.
We will be ordering the next batch of chicks in late July or early August, and likely will produce a small batch of turkeys just in time for Thanksgiving. There will be very few of these this year and some have already expressed interest but by all means, if you are interested, let us know. The turkeys will obviously need more time to grow compared to the chickens.
Again, thank you to all who purchased our broilers, and thank you to all who have already committed to buying more! We hope to become your alternative to the grocery store for chicken and maybe more in the coming years!