General Principles of Management

• We do not trim beaks or claw nail
• No medicated feeds
• All birds get access to the great outdoors, grass and other forage

Laying Hens

The goal with our layers is to maintain the heritage breed theme combined with fun, colourful, and generous layers.

We have a few different breeds of layers. The Arcanas, not to be mistaken for Americanas, are a very friendly and productive layer. The hens lay blue/green eggs that are said to be low in cholesterol.

Another heritage breed of chicken that resides in our barnyard is the Plymouth Barred Rock. These birds are very friendly birds that enjoy taking grain from the hand. Even the roosters are not hard to get along with.  The hens lay a medium to large brown egg.

A barnyard would not be complete without the Banty Variety pack which adds colour and lots of chicken antics to keep things entertaining.  The banty's are good layers, they lay a small brown or white egg (breed dependant).

Broiler Chickens (meat birds)

The breed used is a Giant Cornish.  These birds are white in colour and come to us from a hatchery at a day old.

Broiler chickens are a seasonal product because they follow the grass cycle and once they have their feathers they will spend most of their lives finding grass, bugs, and other dietary delights to dine on, all supplemented with the appropriate ration & continuous access to water.  Did you know that a chicken that has access to grass and outdoor environment can eat enough green forage and insects, etc. to make up to 30% of their total daily diet? This makes for a distinctly different & healthier eating experience.

Jo Robinson has many resources for those wishing to learn more about the health benefits of grass fed and finished food products. You can go to her website www.eatwild.com; it is a win-win situation for all involved.

The birds are harvested when they reach an approximate average weight of 5-5.5 lbs.

Turkeys

The breed used at this time is the Giant Whites.

Turkeys also follow the grass cycle and therefore are also a seasonal product at the ranch.  These birds are a commercial bird just like those raised by the big commercial barns. The difference in our production model, is that our birds spend much of their lives outside eating grass, grasshoppers, and other delectables, unlike their cousins who live in a barn. Raised from day old poults (baby turkeys) on the farm these birds are not as hardy as the chicks (baby chickens) and require a lot of attention in the first couple of weeks. By day 21 they, too, go outside just for the day and by week 4 are able to venture out into the pastures for foraging until they reach a harvestable weight of around 15-25lbs.

The turkey is a ferocious forager and will consume close to 50% of their daily diet off the land, the rest made up of a specific blend of non-medicated feed.  The turkeys can grazing freely on the farm throughout the day and return to their roost at dusk.  Our guardian dog is very good at ensuring their safety at all times during their time outside.

Heritage Turkeys

We will be introducing a heritage turkey, currently at risk of extinction, called a Ridley Bronze turkey. This is a Canadian breed of bird, an excellent forager with strong maternal skills, and is able to breed naturally.  We hope, over time, to build a small flock of these turkeys that will allow us to harvest them annually while maintaining a core breed flock.  These birds take longer to grow to maturity/harvesting age, approximately 26 weeks in comparison to the Giant White at 16 weeks, and weigh between 12-20lbs.

An excellent resource for more information about the heritage poultry and the different breeds is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website.