A Clip of How Chickens are Raised on our Farm:

#4 of 21 Things You May Not Know about Peace Valley Poultry

There are a few weeks In the heat of summer in which one could make the case that a confinement house is more humane than raising chickens on pasture. Even though our shelters have 15 foot ceilings it can be challenging to keep the chickens comfortable when the heat index is greater than 100. We don't have the option of just increasing the airflow in a tunnel ventilation system. We must make extra trips out to the field and put out extra water and flush the water lines to allow cooler water at the drinkers. (Our insulated water tanks keep the drinking water cool for the chickens.)

Why do we continue to raise birds on pasture instead of investing in a confinement house which would greatly reduce our labor? This morning when we moved the chickens they quickly started nibbling the white clover leaves and searching for crickets and grasshoppers underneath the canopy. Even organic confinement chicken houses do not offer the birds the option to graze and to harvest insects. An added benefit of raising birds on pasture is they get “clean sheets” every night, that is, they get moved to fresh pasture daily. Because they are constantly moved away from their manure no medications are necessary. (Google Joe Sanderson for an alternate viewpoint.)

THANK YOU for spending the extra money to purchase our chicken raised without medication.

 Fresh Chicken Sales

Our next fresh chicken sales will be on August 23 and 24. Until then, you may purchase them frozen at the farm, or fresh or frozen at one of the fine stores that carry our chicken products, (see the bottom of the locations tab on our website Location Link).

On Our Farm

It is that time of the year when we clearly need to build a new hoophouse. We are getting the materials together, lining some things up, ordering others. Jim has the master plan in his head. Here he is aligning pipes for the first weld. We will keep you posted on the progress.

Tonight the rain fell mostly softly, bringing promises of lower temperatures. The familiar pitter-pats and dripping were the only sounds to be heard outdoors for awhile. Now that it has subsided, at least temporarily, the sounds of the night creatures seem to be as joyful as the birds in the daytime are when a storm comes to a close.