We’ve been hearing from a lot of folks who want to know if we will be raising free range, pastured chickens for meat this year. And the answer is: we hope to, but it is dependent upon a few factors, including actions you can take to affect our decision.
Small scale farming like what we do here is very much a market-driven activity. If what we’re raising sells, and we haven’t totally gotten taken to the cleaners on the cost of raising it, we’ll probably raise more of that thing. But if we raise something and the response to it is weak, we are not likely to do that again. Nobody gives us a bailout if we make the investment into something and it doesn’t work out – we have to bail ourselves out. We receive no subsidies – contrary to the belief of some folks who have told us that they just figured all farmers receive those benefits. Not so. What we do carries a lot of personal financial risk.
As you probably know, we raised a flock of ducks for meat earlier this Spring. We’ve had very favorable feedback from those who have purchased the few we’ve sold so far, but we still have a freezer full of ducks. The response has been less than expected. Now, perhaps we made a mistake in anticipating a larger demand for this niche item than actually exists, or maybe we just haven’t publicized it enough. The owner of our food co-op was kind enough to let me put up a flyer with our business cards advertising the whole ducks and other items we offer, giving us an avenue to reach out to all of the other co-op members, so hopefully we find some more folks who want to enjoy tasty duck that was raised humanely and on pasture.
So, what can you do? Well, if it isn’t already obvious, please consider buying a duck. Or better yet, two ducks! Duck meat is succulent and flavorful. It is nutrient-dense, especially because these ducks were able to forage naturally in addition to their daily feed ration. By purchasing duck meat, you help free up space in the freezer to accommodate pastured whole chickens. There simply will be no room at the inn/freezer if more duck meat doesn’t sell. The ducks average around 3.5 lbs, give or take, and at $6/lb, that is about $20 per bird. Have you priced whole ducks at your local supermarket recently? I have. Ducks of comparable size run around $15-18 at our local grocer, and those were not raised humanely or on pasture. We have seen pasture-raised duck meat going for less and for more. We priced ours to cover our costs.
We are raising turkeys for Thanksgiving this year, and we have pigs as well. The pigs are currently in the portable building we used for our meat chickens last year, and we had to build a new hut for the turkeys. So, we are currently without housing for any meat chickens, and we will have to go through the expense of erecting another portable structure for them if we are going to raise them this year. If we’re going to do that, we need to know that there will be enough committed interest in purchasing whole pastured chickens. First of all, to insure that our efforts will not be in vain, and secondly, because we have limited freezer space. So, we’d like to hear from anyone who is seriously interested (serious meaning, willing to commit to a purchase and picking up that purchase here on the farm, or in the early morning on weekdays in Troy) and to get an idea of how many you’d like, so we know how many birds we should be raising. Please comment on this post, or respond privately to us via our contact form. Thanks so much!
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