(updated Nov. 2024)
Recently, I posted on Facebook about starting a chicken CSA. Having moved here from the city, I assumed everyone knows what a CSA is. I was wrong!! I've had multiple questions about what a CSA is, what it entails, how it works, etc. So, here's a brief run-down:
Chickens, really, are seasonal animals. We know that produce is seasonal. But meat is, as well (oh, the things I've learned since living on a farm!!) Chickens in spring and summer, red meat in fall and winter, pork fall through spring (Meat Has Seasons, Just Like Produce. And Here's How Factory Farming Has Messed With That. | HuffPost Life).
With meat being readily available year-round at the store, we don't tend to think of meat as being seasonal.
Even here on our farm, where we typically buy beef from our local dairy, it's hard to imagine meat being seasonal.
But raising chickens for the last 3 years has shown the seasonality of even meat and eggs has put me in greater touch with our Creator and His Design (something I've always pursued anyway), and has given me a greater appreciation for the various seasons--even winter, my least favorite of all seasons.
Here's a quick infographic that shows the general gist of a CSA:
To learn more about our CSA, which we call a Flock Share--because, chickens, check out all of the details here and see if a Flock Share is right for you.
We will pick up our first set of baby chicks in mid-January, from a hatchery located about 2.5 hours away. They will live in a temperature-controlled brooder for 3 weeks, before moving them out to their pasture pen.
They will spend another 5ish weeks (37 days) in this pen, being rotated to fresh pasture daily.
Our meat chickens spend a total of about 58 days on-farm. They live the way meat chickens are meant to live. They have plenty of room to forage for fresh grasses, seeds, and any bugs that find their way into the pen. The chickens eat, sleep, poop/fertilize, are moved daily, and live a happy, low-stress life. At the end of 58 days, they are processed in a way that causes them the least amount of stress. They have 1 bad day. When they are processsed here, on our far, they are dispatched in the most humane way we have found--which incidentally is the same way that God commanded His people to slaughter animals in the Old Testament. Kosher Slaughter: An Introduction - My Jewish Learning
For this Flock Share go-round, your share will be available on the dates listed on our Flock Share page. In addition to receiving meat and chicken, you also receive a whole bunch of other freebies, goodies, and bonuses, as listed on that same page.
If anything goes awry one month--predator attack, freak storm, anything funky like that, you will get the remainder of your purchased share/s as soon as we can make it available. Depending on the circumstance. A rain storm that delays processing by a few days is one thing. Frozen roads that prevent our baby chicks from even arriving here safely from the hatchery is something entirely different. Just know that if you don't have chicken, we don't have chicken.
If you pick up on-farm ON processing day (emails will be sent out regularly to let you know what is happening when)--you need to go home and put your chicken directly in the fridge--NOT the freezer, and NOT your belly. I know, I know--you are going to be SO EXCITED for that fresh, tender, juicy meal!! BUT, you need to wait until the next day before freezing, or consuming, your chicken, or the meat will be tough. You have to give the meat time to "rest" after processing--just like you do after roasting--to bring out the tenderness.
If you are meeting up with me in the Metroplex, or if I am delivering to your home, your chickens will be ready to cook when you get home! If it's not already frozen, your chicken can remain in your fridge for up to 7 days. If it will be longer than that, make sure to get it in the freezer!
If you want to visit the farm, let us know!
If you are curious about the slaughtering process, you're welcome to come and watch, or even assist, if you want!
It is pretty straightforward, a little messy, and you'll probably get sprayed with water. I always end up spraying someone with the dang hose....
Our hose doesn't always quite turn the way I need it to, when I'm spraying down the table. Or rinsing birds. So, you've been duly-warned that, if you're working with me, you will absolutely be in the splash zone!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
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