Here at Walpole Valley Farms, we take great pride in our poultry raising and harvesting techniques. We could certainly take the easy road and raise quick growing birds with white feathers that would be soooo much easier to process, but we decided years ago to raise a slower-growing breed called a red broiler or Freedom Ranger. This breed is based on a breed designed in France for their Label Rouge program which is a standard for raising poultry on pasture with strict standards. These chickens are superior foragers making their meat healthier and tastier.
Each year that we have raised these chickens we have only had one harvest per month, so there has been just one opportunity each month to get fresh chickens. This year we've decided to increase production and harvest once per week resulting in fresh chicken available in our farm store each Wednesday! While not everyone has a problem with frozen meat, we do understand that there is something to be said for a fresh, never been frozen, chicken straight from the farm.
If you aren't able to make it to the farm on Wednesdays to pick up your chickens fresh, we always have frozen chickens in our farm store. We only raise these birds in the warm months when the grass is green and the bugs are plentiful. Even when frozen and enjoyed in the dead of winter, we believe that the nutrient density of our poultry is much higher than that of a standard supermarket bird based on what they are eating in season, how they are lovingly harvested, and their daily moves to fresh pasture. You can pick up fresh chickens each Wednesday through September in our farm store from 3-6 pm.
Caitlin
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