FREE-CHOICE Pastured Poultry
(Click to buy Grass-fed poultry and Certified Organic Chicken)
PASTURED POULTRY: Turkey, Chicken, and Duck are grown outside in the fields. This way, the birds choose what they eat and when they eat. Poultry at our farm are free to choose what grasses and bugs they eat and when they want to eat grain.
Chickens are Omnivores:
“a consumption classification for animals that have the capability to obtain chemical energy and nutrients from materials originating from plant and animal origin. Often, omnivores also have the ability to incorporate food sources such as algae, fungi, and bacteria into their diet as well.”
Therefore, we provide them with fresh pasture, a constant supply of organically grown grains. Grains include oats, barley, peas, soy and corn. We provide fresh water, clean housing, a place to roost each night and the protection from predators.
Have you ever heard the old saying, “Your chickens always come home to roost”? Well, each night they do and so will turkeys and ducks.
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All our birds have accommodations that protect them from predators and allow them to roost or nest and relax each night in a warm, safe place. The chickens are fully grown in late summer, early fall and the turkeys and ducks are fully grown by late fall.
Grass fed and Free-run Chicken as Opposed to the Other Kind
You may not know that in Ontario you have to purchase an Egg, Chicken or Turkey Quota from the respective Marketing Boards if you want to sell chicken or turkey. Since we do not purchase quotas, we are only allowed to raise 99 laying hens for eggs, 300 meat chickens, and 50 turkeys each year. What happened to the good old days when you grew what you could sell?
We do not purchase quota as we prefer to have more than one customer, raise the birds outside on pasture and NOT grow 19,000 birds at a time in a conventional poultry barn, with medicated feed, medicated water and no access to the outdoors. Certainly, that is NO way to raise a critter!
Respectfully Raised Poultry
However, you should know our feed and housing costs are much higher than a conventional farm. We think it is more important to respectfully raise animals in a pasture based farm plan that takes a little longer, than raising the birds quicker, faster, cheaper and disrespectfully.
As a non-quota holder, It is illegal for me to market and deliver the Chicken, Eggs or Turkey we grow, or advertise that we sell them.
So I just wanted to tell you that we raise pastured poultry, here, at the farm, and only 99 Free-Run Laying Hens, 300 Free-Run Chickens and 50 Free-Run Turkeys. Thank you for listening, I feel better now, knowing you know, that we raise free-run Chicken, Eggs & Turkey! If you get a chance, tell your MP how silly that is.
Other Grass-fed Domesticated Birds – Duck
In addition to turkey and chicken we also raise Muscovy ducks and we have a few breeding stock on the farm to act as our fly control in the barn. I had never tasted duck until we grew our own and now I am smitten with duck. Check out the Recipe section for a quick Roast Duck Recipe. I wonder if the enjoyment of grass-fed duck has not yet been discovered. I implore you to try it. No Quota required so we grow as many as we can find a market for, and sell them from our farm store.
Everyone should get the chance to try something new! Ducks are for sale and ready for your oven in the fall.
Some poultry is available as part of our Farm Share or Fall Family CSA.
AND NOW also Certified Organic Chicken!
(Click to buy Certified Organic Chicken)
We have partnered with two awesome local farmers who raise Certified Organic Chicken. They live just around the corner from us. Their barn is big and clean and the chickens are raised confirming to our standards and exceeding the ones outlined in the Canadian Organic Standard.
Certified Organic Chicken in Ontario must have free access to the outdoors, have more space per chicken then required in the conventional system and are fed Certified Organic Feed. That means no GMO, no antibiotics and no spray. Nice! We are super excited to offer this option for sale. We can deliver it anywhere in Ontario. There are a number of cut options available!
Best fowl selection in Ontario: Free-Range Turkey, Chicken and Duck
Our standards are extremely strict, therefore, the same quality, free-range, pastured, organic, humanly raised poultry is normally found only in small family-operated farms. They only manage to produce enough for their own or for their immediate relatives consumption. Nonetheless Farm Queen Foods is managing to grow the same quality domestic fowl by hard work and partnership with other farmers dedicated to humane farming practices.
