Hawks Hunt Farm "Honored Life" poultry range freely on green pastures, and are housed in comfortably sized protective chicken houses only at night to keep them safe from predators.  With constant access to fresh food & grains, plus the luxury of green grass, bugs & sunshine, our chickens & turkeys lead very happy lives.

Housed in small groups to satisfy social needs & limit stress, our birds eat locally grown feeds that contain NO antibiotics or hormones.   In every step of raising these birds, we attempt to honor their lives by allowing them to act as naturally as possible - the result is a truly delicious bird!  
 

Know What the Terms Mean!

Concerned consumers are interested in obtaining poultry which has been humanely raised.  There are many ways of accomplishing this, but it's helpful to understand two commonly used terms:  "pastured poultry" and "free range."  What you think may not actually be true - be sure and ask your poultry supplier about the details of how the birds are raised, or, better still, visit the farm yourself and see the birds.

We do not use the "pastured poultry" approach which sounds good on paper - the birds are housed outdoors in semi-covered pens that are moved daily or twice daily to fresh grass.  In reality, 100 or more birds may be contained within 10x20' pens, which means that for a relatively brief time, the birds do have access to clean grass.  But very quickly, those 100 or more chickens "fertilize" and flatten the grass beneath the pen.  And there they sit, in the "fertilizer" - waiting for the next move to new grass hours later.  While this may be good for the grass which benefits from the fertilizer, it is not pleasant for the chickens.  Additionally, pastured poultry are sometimes injured as the open bottom caged is dragged to the next location - their feet & legs can become trapped and broken.  We tried this approach, and abandoned it after 3 days, opening the doors and turning free the birds to freely range.  It takes a few minutes to round them up at night, but it's well worth it to give the birds freedom & enjoyment in their very short lives.

Free-range is another term commonly used when describing poultry raising.  Even according to some organic certifying guidelines, free range husbandry does NOT guarantee that the birds can run, play, eat and amuse themselves outdoors on fresh green grass & pasture.  It simply means that they are not confined solely to indoor facilities and that they do have access to outdoors, no guarantee of green grass! Be sure to ask what a producer means when they say, "Free range."

Farmer John Rice 
with a few turkey friends
(click for a better view)

There is a real pleasure in raising poultry.  It begins with the arrival of day old chicks, charming in their downy coats and peeping noisily as they explore their new home.   Bedded deep with fresh shavings and warmed by a brooder that provides constant heat, our 1913 barn's springhouse is home to our young chickens and turkeys. Since they are too young & vulnerable to be allowed to free range & forage for themselves, we bring the "pasture" to the birds, hand picking tender grasses, clovers & flowers for our babies. 

With astonishing speed, the chicks grow into fully feathered poults, and they are moved into a larger pen inside the barn.  Here the young birds practice running and even flying.  Mostly, they concentrate on eating!  We continue to bring fresh picked greens several times a day. 

Once fully feathered, the young chickens and turkeys are moved to their own "houses" set on our pastures.  Each morning, their houses are opened so that the birds may range freely, grazing on fresh forage, snapping up tasty bugs and napping in the warm sun.  In the evening, the birds are gently herded back into the protection of their houses for the night. 

Our chickens are Jumbo Cornish Rock Cross birds - a breed the industry claims can't be raised without antibiotics & medication! That might be true in the horrid conditions under which most meat chickens are raised, but our birds thrive on excellent feed & loving care.  No antibiotics or medication needed!  For 2003, we raised a strain of Red broilers and Black broilers, which take an extra week or two to finish but are not prone to the heart & leg problems of the Cornish rock crosses.  (Note: MUCH healthier birds!  Vigorous, active, and we had almost zero mortality with no health problems.  Dressed out beautifully!)

It takes roughly 8-12 weeks for a chicken to reach the desired weight of between 5-8 lbs.  Our 5-6 lb. chickens are excellent broilers - perfect for the barbecue or oven.   The larger 6-8 lb. birds are hefty roasters with plenty of delicious meat.

Our turkeys are the rare but delightful Broad Breasted Bronze breed. Once the standard in this country, this breed has fallen out of favor with the commercial producers who believe that a dark feather produces a less attractive turkey!  While a few dark pinfeathers do occasionally remain on the processed bird (easily removed if desired), the flavor is unforgettable.  

We've added a few historic turkey breeds to our program:  Royal Palm, Bourbon Red & Black Spanish.  To our delight, they have proven to be terrific natural breeders, and are producing some lovely crosses.  These rare & endangered breeds once helped fill the table all across America; today, they are nearly extinct, pushed aside by commercial turkey farms that wanted big, white, fast-growing birds who cannot even breed naturally. They are small, compared to the Broad Breasted Bronze, but interested customers are welcome to order one of these great little birds for Thanksgiving. 

We also appreciate the stately beauty and charming personality of these great birds. Anyone who believes turkeys are stupid should come & spend some time "meditating with the turkeys." We do - every day! (Check out the photo above of John hanging out with a few turkey friends.) It takes approximately 16-18 weeks to grow a turkey. On the table, these birds offer a flavor unmatched by any store bought turkey.

HAWKS HUNT NATURALLY RAISED POULTRY:   $2.50/lb dressed weight, freezer ready, picked up at the farm. 

CHICKENS:  Broilers average 4-6 lbs.  Roasters average 6-8 lbs.  We plan only one 100 bird group in our 2003 growing season. We do limit the size of each batch to the number of birds we can care for humanely.  Plan ahead & place your order early to avoid being disappointed!

TURKEY Sizes range from 14-30 lbs. Be sure to reserve your holiday birds early!

WE DO NOT SHIP OUR POULTRY - to find a natural poultry supplier near you, we suggest a search at www.eatwild.com