Chickens

We raise a slower growing breed of chicken called ‘Pioneer’ to provide an alternative to the conventional fast growing and slow moving chicken breed. 

Our chickens are pasture raised which means they spend most of their life on pasture, moved every other day to new ground. Delicious pasture where they can scratch and peck naturally as they find bugs, grubs, seeds, and even grass to eat. These chickens are active as they roam and forage in our pastures and that turns into a delicious, nutritiously full-flavored chicken.

We currently have 6 mobile range coops that measure 20 x 40 feet and are moved every other day to new pasture. We house 600-650 chickens in each one which allows 1.23-1.33 square foot per chicken. We harvest chickens every week of the year so we can offer fresh chicken each weekend at our farmers markets and to our retail and restaurant customers. Beyond the grass, bugs, grubs and seeds the chickens find in the pastures they are fed an organic, non-gmo grain and thats it, nothing else goes into our birds.

MORE CHICKEN INFO FOR THE ENTHUSIAST:
In the late 1940s, poultry geneticists engineered a fast growing chicken that could be raised indoors known as a Cornish Cross. Since then, this breed is served in almost every restaurant and sold in every grocery store, this is what 99% of the US eats. This bird grows at an incredibly fast rate: six pounds in six weeks. Today, the average processing age of the Cornish Cross chicken is just thirty-seven days. Because of the rapid growth of these birds, they can have physical complications; their legs and hearts can struggle to keep up with the fast rate of their growth and they do not live active lives.

We have worked hard to raise alternatives to that conventional breed. Our first 6 years we raised true heritage breed chickens, but we reluctantly learned that most folks are not totally ready for a heritage chickens in their kitchen, either because it cooks differently or because it looks different. So we switched to raising the Freedom Ranger breed which are part heritage, part Cornish cross and grow at a rate right in the middle of them. They were a great balance but the chicks became hard to source weekly. The closest place who could supply our weekly quantity is based in PA, way on the other side of the country. Which meant very unhealthy chicks arriving after days of travel. So in the fall of 2025, we switched again to raise ‘Pioneers’ or as we like to say, ‘Pioqueers’. We source chicks from two different reputable hatcheries based right here in California, Metzer Farms and Bill Niman. Which means the chicks arrive super healthy and usually within one day of hatching. The Pioqueers have been a great balance for us - healthy, active, slower growing birds with absolutely incredible flavor.

Meet The Chickens

Click an image to open the gallery.