and why we don’t sell them.
We often get asked if we sell fresh pasture raised chickens. If you have been a long time customer of ours, you know that we only sell frozen chicken, but you may not know why.
Pasture raised chicken
Our meat chickens are raised in small groups out on our pastures. Pastures are only growing in the months of May through September here in Minnesota. Chickens are not a winter hardy bird. Since we don’t like raising chickens indoors, May through September are the only months that are safe for the birds to be outside all day and night.
I guess we could have winter birds that we sell as confined meat birds, but that would be a lot of work to keep track of which birds are which. Also, I am guessing you are buying chicken from us because we don’t raise our chickens confined to a barn.
You can learn more about how we raise meat chickens here: Chicks Move to Pasture
Freezing locks in the quality
Freezing meat chickens doesn’t mean the quality is less. In fact, freezing the chicken meat right away ensures that the nutrients and taste are locked. A fresh bird will only last about five days in your refrigerator. If we only sold fresh chicken, we would have to sell 300 chickens within five days. We would only have three sales days a year. That doesn’t sound like a good business model to us.
But wait you can get fresh pasture raised chicken if you really want them
If you really want fresh chickens, we do allow for fresh chicken pre-orders. The catch is that you must pick them up on the day they return from the butchers. Also, we only have three pick-up days a year. If you are interested in this option, you can call us at 952-461-3428 or email us at zweber@integra.net.
We are currently taking pre-orders for June pick-up of frozen (and fresh) chickens. Our pasture raised chickens are fed nonGMO feed, no antibiotics, and no hormones. If are interested in being one of the first people to buy chicken from us this season, please call us at 952-461-3428.
~Emily
