The last couple weeks have been busy ones for Ironweed Farm.  The days leading up to processing on the 30th of July had us moving the chickens twice a day to fresh pasture.  They were eating so much grass that by midday they were pretty much out and we didn’t want to leave them wanting.  Processing day was long but rewarding.  We processed 115 pasture raised chickens with our small team of five.  We incorporated a number of our Lessons Learned from previous processing days and in the interest of always improving, looked at our operations this time around and came up with some ideas about how we think we can improve the next time around.  We would be remiss if we did not take time to thank all our customers who not only believe in what we are doing but also trust us to provide great tasting, nutritionally dense, pasture raised chicken for them and their families. We thank you all and hope you enjoy they chicken as much as we do.

After processing, there were normal farm chores that needed to be done and then we had to start getting ready for an Ironweed Farm first.  This year we co-sponsored St Mary’s (our local parish) annual Pig Roast on August 6th.  We donated thirty of our pasture raised chickens to the event and grilled up 300 pieces of chicken for the over 450 people that came out.  For those doing the math, we butchered the chickens into ten parts each, two wings, two legs, two thighs, and we cut each skin on, bone in breast into two pieces for a total of four breast pieces per chicken.  Granted, not everyone there was able to have a piece of Ironweed Farm pasture raised chicken, but we got great feedback from the people that did and there were other great co-sponsors there with us.

Finally, two days after the St Mary’s Pig Roast, we moved the 128 chicks from our third batch of birds from their brooders out to pasture.  Much like the last batch, these chicks attacked the grass as soon as they were placed in their pens and we know they are going to look forward to their daily moves to fresh grass.  The chicks have been looking great since day one and we have no doubts that these guys will do great over the next 5 weeks out on pasture.

If you can’t wait 5 weeks, we do have whole birds left from this run frozen and ready for you to pick up.  We also have some parts packages that are vacuum sealed and frozen ready to go as well.  Contact us and let us know what you want!  If you are interested in placing an order for our third and final processing date in September, please check out our Ordering Information page.  Thanks again to all our customers and all that support us and what we are trying to do – provide nutritious, great tasting pasture raised chicken… From our pasture to your plate.

Just a quick update - the second batch of pasture raised chicken have been out on pasture for about a week and are doing great!  As you can see from the pictures below, they are enjoying their salad bar of grass, clover and other greens as well as fresh air, sunshine and all the bugs they can catch. 

If you are out of our super tasty pasture raised chicken or didn't get an order in for the first batch, please checkout our Ordering Information Page to get your orders in.  The second pickup date of the summer is 31 July.  If you can't wait till then, we still have some packages of legs, thighs, boneless, skinless chicken breasts and wings vacuum packed, frozen and ready for your freezer.  Just Contact Us and let us know what you would like.

The chicks are growing!  If you remember from last post, this is what the chicks looked like a one day old.  Little yellow puffballs.

At three weeks old, they are getting their “big bird” feathers.  They are still in a transition phase though similar to those awkward early high school teenage years.  If you look closely, they have their adult feathers on their wings and body, but their heads still have that yellow chick fuzz.  At least they are all in it together and don’t have to worry about being stuffed in a locker after gym class!

Anyway, it seems like they are growing every day.  They are enjoying their GMO-free food from Hiland Naturals that is tested and guaranteed to be pesticide, herbicide and medication free.  What they are liking even more though is the grass and clover clippings we are tossing in a couple times a day to give them a taste of the salad bar pasture they will soon be moved to.  Just waiting for that yellow fuzz to turn to white feathers.  In about a week’s time, they will be put out on pasture to enjoy all the grass, clover, and other greenery, as well as bugs and worms, they can.  Then a few weeks after that, they will be ready to take home for you and your family to enjoy.

So, if you haven’t placed your order yet, please check out our Ordering Information page and get your order in today!  Almost the entire first batch of our nutritious, delicious, pasture raised poultry is spoken for and you don’t want to start grilling season cooking up bland, rubbery store bought factory chicken.  Pickup date for the first batch is 26 June.  We hope to hear from you soon!

If you have enjoyed our pasture raised chicken, please let us know.  Visit us and leave a review on our Facebook Page or LocalHarvest.com (or better yet, both).  Want to know when there is a new blog post or farm happening, please subscribe to our mailing list.

In the meantime, enjoy the spring weather and get those gardens started.  It won't be long until you can enjoy your home grown veggies with our pasture raised poultry!

Our first batch of chicks arrived from Mount Healthy Hatchery on May 4th.  As always, we are raising Cornish Rock Cross broilers on pasture and GMO-free feed.  Cornish Rock Cross broilers are Cornish Cockerels (male chickens) that are bred to large broiler type White Rock hens. The cross produces one of the finest quality broiler type chicks that can be found anywhere. They produce the desired broad breast, big legs, and big thighs that make our pasture raised poultry stand out from other farm raised chicken and especially factory raised chicken found at the grocery store.

If you haven’t ordered your pasture raised poultry from our first batch yet, get over to our Ordering Information page and get your order in quick.  There are not that many chickens left and you don’t want to head into prime grilling season without some of our juicy, tasty and nutritious chicken adorning your plate.  First pickup date is June 26th!

If you have enjoyed our pasture raised chicken, please let us know.  Visit us and leave a review on our Facebook Page or LocalHarvest.com (or better yet, both).  Want to know when there is a new blog post or farm happening, please subscribe to our mailing list.

In the mean time, enjoy the spring weather and get those gardens started.  It won't be long until you can enjoy your home grown veggies with our pasture raised poultry!

Ironweed Farm is proud and excited to announce that we have been asked to give a presentation at the Cincinnati Nature Center on Pasture Raised Chicken and Eggs from 2:00pm – 3:00pm on January 31st, 2016.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to help spread the word about the benefits of pasture raised chicken as well as eating locally.  As part of the Nature Center’s “A Taste of Nature” series, we will be giving a 30 minute presentation, followed a local caterer, Elegant Fare, serving theme based dishes featuring our pasture raised chicken.  If you are interested in attending, please check out the Events Page and follow the link to register for the event.

Curious about what the Cincinnati Nature Center is? 

The Cincinnati Nature Center is the largest member-supported nature center in the country, with over 150,000 visitors a year.  It provides the community with a unique and valuable education resource for innovative, nature-based learning opportunities in a variety of formats. School field trips, family and adult seasonal programming, summer camps, off-site travel, teacher retreats, in-school programs and volunteer classes all help connect individuals with nature.

Just minutes away from the downtown urban core, the Cincinnati Nature Center offers tranquility and solace among more than 1,600 acres of forests, fields, streams and ponds. With twenty miles of award-winning trails on two picturesque properties, the Nature Center provides spectacular experiences for people of all ages during all seasons.

We hope to see you there, but if not, please leave us a comment below and let us know how you are enjoying your pasture raised chicken.  Better yet, leave us a review on either our Facebook page or at LocalHarvest.com.  Want to know when there is a new blog post or farm happening, please subscribe to our mailing list.  As always, if you have any questions, please Contact Us.

In the meantime, stay warm this winter by enjoying a nice hot bowl of chicken soup!

First off, our apologies for the delay in publishing this blog post.  The days and weeks after chicken processing were busy and at some times, hectic.  There was hay to cut and bail.  Repairs to equipment needed attention.  However, the main culprit was generations two and three relocated to the Dover, Delaware area due to a military assignment.  Don’t worry though, the relocation will not in any way effect the nutrition and tastiness of your future chicken orders.  Things have settled down now and we can focus once again on communicate with you – the most important part of our adventure in pasture raised chicken.

Processing Day – always a lot of fun, hard work, and lesson learning.  So, what all happens on processing day you wonder.  It actually begins the day before processing actually happens.  The chickens are moved in the late afternoon one last time and get one last feast of fresh grass, bugs and worms.  The processing equipment is taken out of storage, positioned and set up.  Everything is cleaned, sanitized, and tested.  Once everything is ready to go for the next day, it is cover up for the night.  We then go through our checklist of supplies, tools, and equipment and gather everything needed for each station of the processing line so we are as organized as possible for the next day.

The day of processing start around 6:30 am.  All the processing equipment gets another wipe down with a bleach and water solution and a rinse off.  The scalder is filled and turned on to get the water at the right temperature.  The first batch of chickens is brought from the pasture to the processing area.  Chill tanks are filled with ice and water and additional ice in coolers is prepositioned near the chill tanks to top them off as needed throughout the day.  Once everything is in place and the scalder is up to temperature, a blessing is said and thanks is given to the chickens for the sacrifice they will make to put food on all of our tables and then the processing starts.

There are eight steps or stations that our small four person team mans in our processing line.  The first is the Kill Cone station. The chickens are placed upside down (which naturally calms them) in the cones and an incision is made in their necks that severs the carotid artery.  This quickly lowers the chicken’s blood pressure, causing it to pass out.  The chicken then bleeds out and is ready for the next station.  I know this initial step doesn’t sound very nice, but it is a necessary fact of life that must be done and the chickens are dispatched as humanly as possible.  The next station is the scalder tank where the chickens are rotated around in hot water for about a minute to loosen the feathers for plucking.  After the scalder, the next station is the plucker.  As the name implies, the plucker plucks the feathers from the chicken.  The plucker is basically a drum with a rotating bottom and a number of rubber fingers sticking out the sides.  As the chickens rotate around, the rubber fingers pluck the feather.  Once done, the chicken moves to the next station – evisceration.  Evisceration is a fancy word for removing the guts.  At this station, the head, feet, and innards are removed.  Hearts, livers, and gizzards are saved and the rest is put in the compost bucket.  Next is the first of two quality control stations where the chickens are inspected to make sure nothing was missed and they are of the quality in which we want to offer to our customers.  Then next station is the chill tank.  Here, the chickens are placed in an ice water bath to bring their temperature down to below forty degrees as quickly as possible.  The chickens are then kept below forty degrees for approximately 24 hours to allow them to rest so that the customer gets the most tender and juicy chicken possible.  After their rest, the chickens go through one more quality control inspection and then are either bagged in shrink wrap bags or butchered into individual cuts and vacuum sealed.  Both are able to be frozen for a year or more.

Processing wrapped up around 3:30 pm with 120 birds processed and on ice.  Then the cleanup began.  Everything was scrubbed down, sanitized and placed back in storage for next year.  The next day, we butchered around 30 of the chickens and shrink bagged the rest.  A little after noon, customers started arriving to pick up their chickens and another processing day(s) was in the books.

As always, learning happened during processing day.  The first lesson of note for future processing days was to make sure all hose clamps are tightened down.  Nothing like having a water line pop loose in the middle of the operation.  Next was to have a chill tank for chickens that are not “customer worthy.”  These are chickens that while in the plucker tore some skin or ended up with a broken wing/leg.  Basically, any chicken that we would not want to present to any one of our customers will get tossed into this chill tank.  The last big lesson learned was to be more prepared for and have a more steam lined process for customer pick up and work on providing a more enjoyable experience for our customers.

So, with the 2015 pasture poultry done and behind us, we are going to be using the off season to internalize our lessons learned, streamline our processes and work to deliver not only extremely tasty and nutritious chicken, but a more enjoyable customer experience.
 
If you have enjoyed our pasture raised chicken, please let us know.  Visit us and leave a review on our Facebook Page or LocalHarvest.com (or better yet, both).  Want to know when there is a new blog post or farm happening, please subscribe to our mailing list.
 
In the meantime, enjoy the fall weather and chicken from our pasture to your plate.

Welcome to the Ironweed Farm Blog and thanks for stopping by.  We finally have a live website!  Here, in the blog section, we will post updates, happenings, discuss topics of interest, etc.  Let us know what you want to see here and we'll see what we can do. Here is what is coming up in the near future:

If you are interested in trying some of our outstandingly delicious pasture raised chicken, check out our Ordering Information page.  If you want to stay up to date on what is happening on the farm, subscribe to our mailing list by clicking the Subscribe button on any page. 

Once again, thanks for stopping by.  We appreciate your interest in what we are doing.  Please comment below or Drop Us A Line and let us know what you think or what you want to see.