PASTURE-RAISED POULTRY & EGGS
L&A FAMILY FARMS
We let our chickens be chickens, enabling them to display their natural behaviors, such as dust bathing, establishing pecking order and yearly molting.
By raising the hens on pasture, they have access to bugs, grasses, and other forages. We move the hens' electrified netting pens around their shelter as needed, allowing the forage to regrow before the chickens are introduced again in a rotational grazing pattern.
Our hens are not caged. They are trained to lay eggs in nests boxes in their shelter, which also contains roosting perches. This is where they lounge during the day and sleep at night. Their shelter is a 30' X 72' hoop structure with a white covering that provides shade in the summer and helps trap heat in the winter.
Our eggs are carefully washed, candled, graded, sized and placed into egg cartons. They are kept at 32-45°F in our cooler.
PASTURE-RAISED EGGS
THE PASTURE-RAISED DIFFERENCE
3x more Omega 3s than industrial eggs
2x more Vitamin E
40% more Vitamin A
You will see a difference between our eggs and the ones you get in the grocery store.
Our hens lay eggs with yolks that stand up and have a deep golden orange color. This is due to the freshness and the chlorophyll (greens) in their diets, which they get from grazing grasses, clover, and weeds in their pasture. This gives them the “real farm eggs” flavor.
Yolks from the grocery store are often paler and thinner. Even some of the eggs that are labeled free-range or cage-free still do not have adequate quality grass in their diets.
OUR EGGS aRE AVAILABLE BY THE DOZEN OR THROUGH OUR CSA EGG SHARE
Have you ever been confused by the variety of labels you see at the grocery store? Do you know what “pasture raised” and “free range” labels mean? Are they different or do they mean the same thing? How about when something is labeled “natural”? We consumers are persuaded into believing these labels, and we often have a preconceived image of what they mean. Farmers may also have different definitions of what these labels represent for them.
L&A Family Farms uses the term Pasture-Raised because we feel it describes our rearing method better. We are not able to say grass-fed like we do with our beef, because chickens are omnivores; they will eat more than grass.
In our pasture raised system, we use Cornish Cross broilers. These are the same birds raised in large confinement buildings. Therefore, you are familiar with them; however, the taste and texture will be different. Each batch starts with 300–350 day-old chicks. They are raised in the brooder for three weeks under heat lamps.
During the third or fourth week, they are placed outside on pasture, depending on the weather. The chickens are provided with a portable shelter, giving them shade and protection from the weather. The broilers are raised inside electrified poultry netting. This electrified enclosure allows us to rotate the chickens to fresh grass and helps protect them from non-flying predators. The portable shelters are moved each morning to give them fresh grass to eat and a clean spot to loaf. To help prevent heart attacks, we restrict them from having access to their ground feed. We feed them at 7 a.m. and take the feed away at 7 p.m., but they have access to forage at all times. All work is done with human hands, no automation needed.
Sunshine and day length determines the light intensity they receive. We grind our own feed using our own non-GMO corn mixed with bean meal and other essential vitamin and mineral supplements. By raising our birds in smaller quantities and in healthier environments, we do not need medicated feed. At seven or eight weeks of age, the chickens are processed at Central Illinois Poultry Processing in Arthur, Illinois, a USDA inspected facility.
PASTURE-RAISED CHICKEN
OUR CHICKEN IS AVAILABLE IN INDIVIDUAL CUTS AND WHOLE BIRDS
Turkeys arrive on our farm as day-old poults through the mail. Like chickens, they are placed in a brooder house with heat lamps.
Turkeys aren't known to be the smartest birds on the block...They are notorious for eating bedding instead of their food, so they are raised on indoor/outdoor carpet for the first few days. We also drop marbles in their food and water containers because shiny objects attract them to their food source faster.
After about a six-week stay in the brooder house, they are moved to pasture, where they have a portable structure for shade and shelter and an electrified poultry netting to protect them from predators. This enclosure also allows us to rotate the turkeys to fresh grass and bugs. They really enjoy chasing down grasshoppers!
By raising the birds in a healthier environment, there is no need to use antibiotics or medicines in their feed. We grind our own feed using our own non-GMO corn mixed with bean meal and other essential vitamin and mineral supplements.
At thirteen to fourteen weeks of age, the turkeys are processed at Central Illinois Poultry Processing in Arthur, IL, a USDA-inspected facility.
You will receive pre-wrapped frozen whole turkeys unless other arrangements are made. The turkeys range in size from 12-25 lbs. dressed weight. All turkeys will be frozen and available to be picked up at the farm or delivered one to two weeks prior to Thanksgiving.
We suggest you pre-order to guarantee a bird for Thanksgiving or Christmas. A $25 deposit is due at signing and is not refundable.