Chicken, Raised Organically.

If you haven’t heard, we are raising Cornish cross chickens organically, giving them lots of space to live, in which they supplement their diet as they choose with insects and plants. We process these birds here on the farm. Not only does this insure, for us, good processing practices, it also reduces stress on the birds that would be caused by transport to an off-farm facility. The finished whole bird is vacuum packed and frozen.

Available Now:

Please download this order form, complete, and return to Eater's Guild with deposit to reserve your chicken.

The Details on our Program:

If your pick up date is within a day of processing, you may receive your birds refrigerated. Simply freeze it within two days. Preorder price is $4/lb. You may order as many as you like, we just ask that you pay $4 per bird as a deposit. You will receive an email notice of your order once we receive it, and again confirmation of pick-up/delivery day/time. Beginning Oct 4, delivery is available to CSA pick up sites through October 22. Please note your preferred date and location for pick up, and we will do our best to meet this. If you wish to get birds at a later date, on farm pick up is available through Nov. 23. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. contact@eatersguild.com or 269-427-0423.

More on Our Birds:
An Interview with Travis Meier.

Travis: They are known as Cornish Crosses. They are an F-2 hybrid, for anyone who remembers

their lessons on Mendel’s genetics. Cornish Crosses are the “standard American” chicken. They are one of the best growing breeds, maturing in eight to nine weeks, and also converting feed into mass very efficiently. Chicken was not really a popular source of meat until these birds came into the scene.

J: What kind of housing do your chickens live in?

T: The housing can be referred to by many different names; I use “mobile pasture pens”. They look like small greenhouses but have tarped roofs to create shade. We were able to recycle a billboard tarp for the purpose. Mobile Pasture Units have an open area of pasture that is enclosed by electric poultry fencing, which is a screened wire fence that is intended to keep them in. It gives them a lot of space to run around, and frequently, they run out, too.

J: Do you move the mobile pasture often?

T: Oh, yes. Many times during the course of the chickens lives. How often they move varies with the weather and the way that the chickens are acting, but basically, when I see that the ground has been nicely spread with manure, it’s time to move them.

J: So the chickens have a symbiotic relationship with the plants?

T: Yes, their principal relationship with the plants is to spread manure. The whole of the topsoil and the plants in it get to respond to that huge boost of manure, making the ground more fertile in future times for vegetable farming. They also eat some plants. Some of their feed sprouts little protein shoots, which puts more nutrients into the bird that are returned to the end user, humans.

J: What would you tell a potential customer that is not accustomed to free range chickens?

T: Well, I would say that, because my chickens are let in the field and ingest a feed that is heterogeneous, that is, made up of many kids of seed, they are more healthy to consume. Generally speaking, the more diverse the nutrients a chicken eats, the more healthful it is for a human to eat. In factory farm situations, the food type is whatever is cheapest, which means that it’s also usually all the same type.

Also, I’ve noticed that the chickens taste great. They taste more chicken-y than your average, factory farmed animal. I’m not saying that they are more “game-y”, like wild animals, they simply have a richer chicken flavor. They are even more moist than a big-chain chicken. I grow the best tasting chickens I that know of.

J: Where can people expect to find your chickens?

T: That’s a good question. Right now they are at the Holland Market, South Haven Market, Texas Township Market, People’s Food Cooperative, and Salt of the Earth.