EGGS
Our current layers are Buff Orpingtons, Plymouth Barred Rocks, a few Araucana hens as well as some Danish Brown Leghorns
(pronounced "Leggerns").
The Buffs and Barred Rocks free range near our dairy cows and help keep the flies in control. The Leghorns are
a fairly wild and flighty chicken, and we chose them so that the local varmints would not get too many free chicken dinners.
These chickens don’t let much get near them. They free range in the pasture with the beef cows
to help control the flies.
At Giles Ranch we do not baby our layers. They are expected to forage for much of their food, and they so very
well. We also make available to them a buffet of whole corn, roasted soybeans, oats, and oyster shells, but they
spend most of their days ranging and foraging for fresh food. We provide them shelter
at night from predators, and put down some extra hay in the floor of their mobile coop during the more severe freezing weather.
Most of our eggs are brown with a few green ones from the Araucanas. Our Brown Leghorns give us white eggs.
No matter the color of the shell, when you first try one of our eggs, you'll notice a rich, firm, dark orange yolk. This is due
to the high amount of green forage they consume. They look and taste quite different from the standard grocery
store egg.
CHICKENS FOR MEAT
Our broilers are raised in several batches throughout the warmer months of the year. In addition to the fresh pasture
they enjoy every day, we also feed them a custom mixed grain ration. This way we know exactly what ingredients go
into the ration and are comfortable that we're feeding an all-natural product.
The first batch of chickens is processed near the end of May with other batches to follow throughout the year depending on
customer demand. We can supply our customers with smaller fryer size birds that weigh about 4 pounds, or with
roaster size birds, which are in the 6-7 pound size range. If you'd like pastured turkey for Thanksgiving
or Christmas, let us know by the first week of June so that we have time to grow them for you.
PRICING
| Eggs | $2.50 per dozen |
| Chickens (approximately 4-6 pounds) | $2.25/lb dressed weight if picked up fresh after 3:00 PM on processing day $2.50/lb dressed weight if picked up frozen on other days. |
| Turkeys | $2.25 per pound of dressed weight |
2008 AVAILABILITY
Please call or email us to order your chickens. We will have a limited supply, so reserve yours early. Below are the processing dates for this year. As stated above in the pricing section, you can pick up your birds fresh on the day of processing after 3:00 PM, or already frozen on a later day at a slightly higher cost.
| Chickens | Saturday, May 17, after 3:00 PM Saturday, June 28, after 3:00 PM Saturday, August 9, after 3:00 PM Saturday, September 13, after 3:00 PM |
If you have any questions, please email us at gilesranch@gmail.com, or phone at (417)621-5476.
For more information about the benefits of eating grassfed products, please visit Eatwild.com.