OUR BIRDS
At the Peacock & Pony we raise a wide variety of birds for meat, eggs, and pleasure. We keep a flock of layers for eggs, we raise coturnix quail for eggs and meat, and we keep pheasants and peafowl primarily for their beauty and wonder. However, our principal bird production is focused on pastured poultry: we raise a small flock of heritage turkeys for the Thanksgiving season, and we raise a large numbers of broiler chickens throughout the warmer months of the year in mobile chicken tractors on daily fresh pasture.
BROILERS
The label “free range” could be applied to our broiler chickens, but it's insufficient. “Free range” refers to the practice of giving birds “access to the outside” for a minimum period of time per day (often meaning a small door to the outside is opened briefly, whether the birds venture out or not). Our broilers are “pasture raised,” meaning that, from the time they are old enough to leave the warmth of the brooder, they live with ample space, outdoors, on fresh pasture. They are moved daily, so that they have consistent access to the bugs and plants that supplement their diets, and so that they do not eat and sleep in their accumulated waste. For more information on why pasture-raised chicken is better for you, the environment, and the birds themselves, visit: www.getrealchicken.com/why-pasture-raised/
WHITES
Our whites are Cornish Cross hybrids that arrive from the hatchery the day after hatching. These birds are the standard in commercial chicken production as they are reliably aggressive growers. They are ready to be processed at 9 weeks and are often the largest chickens we produce.
REDS
Our reds are also "Freedom Ranger" hybrids that arrive from the hatchery. However, they are bred to be better foragers with more “chicken-like” characteristics. As a result, they are more active, leading to a leaner, more flavorful product, but also a longer growing period of 13 weeks and, often, a slightly smaller end product.
DELAWARES
Finally, our heritage Delawares are the closest you'll find to the way chickens were raised traditionally. We hatch them on the farm from our own stock. They take all of 15 weeks to mature, but are the most local and most “natural” product possible.
TURKEYS
Our heritage turkeys are more similar to the wild turkeys that you see along the roadside than to the butterballs in the supermarket. These lean but meaty birds take a whole growing season to mature, but they are ready just in time for Thanksgiving. They thrive outdoors in their rotational pens on pasture.
QUAIL
We raise jumbo pharaoh (Coturnix cotunix) quail. We the hatch out the vast majority of our own quail from a permanent flock. These little birds are not only great egg producers, but individual quail make a delectable plate for one.
EGGS
We produce small numbers of free range chicken eggs all year long from our layer flock of several dozen birds. Our farm fresh eggs have great color, rich flavor, and thick shells. Our layers are raised in the barn with a large adjacent yard. Our quail also produce abundantly and we often have their eggs available. Both chicken and quail eggs are available by the dozen or half-dozen
PEAFOWL
A mating pair of peafowl adopted our barn one night and have been a mascot of the Peacock & Pony ever since. The peahen tends to hatch out a small brood each summer.
PHEASANTS
To round out our menagerie of birds, we keep a handful of pheasants. Ask us about the availability of live or processed pheasants.