A List of USDA Processing Plants for Your Chickens

I was told by a well established USDA inspected poultry processor that there were only a dozen or so small-scale USDA inspected poultry processors in the country that are willing to process for independent farmers. I thought, “That cannot be true!” So as the Program Manager of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network, a Cooperative […]
Read More →Vital Farms Raises Bullsh*t Free Eggs

When we first watched this video, it made us laugh, and it was headed for the On Pasture “Funnies” category. But then we visited the Vital Farms website to learn more and decided this is serious business. You know, it and we know it: cage free and free range eggs aren’t all they’re cracked up […]
Read More →Chicken Library in Special Collections

Though over 75% of you are focused on raising beef, information on raising chickens is always a big draw here at On Pasture. To make it easier to get right to these articles, we put together a “Chicken Library.” Here you go. Just click, scan through to find a topic you’re interested and read away! […]
Read More →Growing Our Poultry Operation with Our Own USDA Inspected Processing Plant

Maple Wind Farm, owned by Bruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting, is a diversified, pasture-based livestock, organic vegetable, and maple products farm located on two conserved properties in Huntington and Richmond, VT. Here’s how they worked through the process of growing their pastured poultry business with their own processing facility.
Read More →Heritage Turkeys – These Breeds Are a Tasty Alternative

Of the 200,000,000 turkeys that are raised annually, only about 25,000 are heritage breeds. The reason for this is economics. The modern hybrid variety (Broad Breasted Bronze or Giant White) grows much more quickly. It is ready for market at 14 to 16 weeks compared to 25 to 30 weeks for a heritage breed. That […]
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