Wk 25 | Summer 7 Sneak Peek Tu-Th | Aug 20 & 22
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Hard to believe that half of the Summer Season is done. But we still have 18 weeks remaining through the end of this year. It's not too soon to sign up for the Fall Season if you haven't already, by updating your membership here.
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Our heritage birds are ready!
As some of you have noticed, our supply of Cornish Rock chickens available in the online store is dwindling. They have given way to the heritage birds that I've written about in a previous sneak peek. The  experience of raising these cockerels (roosters/males) was....um.... interesting. They are a slower-growing bird, so they had more time with us, about 15 weeks (compared to 5 weeks for the Cornish Rock variety). They also came of age as the weather got nicer and spent a lot of time outside. And... well... they're males. They flew the coop--literally--early and often, got into everything, and fought constantly. And there were 150 of them, which makes for a lot of racket!
Raising chickens--and two very different varieties of chickens--has been a real learning experience. I'd say the jury's out on whether it's something the farm will do again; but if so, we've learned enough to know what kinds, what gender, and what time of the year to do it.
As meat chickens, how will these birds stack up to our Cornish Rocks and to what you've become accustomed to in grocery store chickens?
- They aren't bred for meatiness, so they don't have the large expanses of white meat you'd expect to find in a grocery store chicken--and in our Cornish Rocks.
- The fact that they are roosters also explains their relative lack of breast meat; they are a bit more like game birds in their appearance, texture and flavor. More tendon in the leg meat too, much like a tiny turkey.
- Despite their advanced age, they are predominantly in the smaller sizes; they are generally packed without giblets.
- Some suggest that their flavor is better, but that with the issues mentioned above, they might lend themselves better to slow cooking or other cooking in liquid.
We've added these to the store. Though it had been our intention to charge as much or more for the heritage breed chickens due to the extra expenses of feeding and caring for them longer, we have reduced the price from that of the Cornish Rocks because (1) they're likely a different experience than you're used to, and (2) we need to make room in our freezers for all of the beautiful butternut squash we'll be roasting and freezing for the Winter Season.
-- Robin
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Questions?
Call Robin (in Chicago), 708-370-8017 | Chris (farmer/owner), 608-712-1585
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