Poultry

Pasture Raised Chickens

At Apple Ridge, we have 300 laying hens during the green season and 150 over the winter. During the warmer months when the grass is green we also raise 60 broilers (meat chickens) a week. Chickens raised on pasture are a rare thing in modern agriculture. You’ll see marketing terms like “free range” used often, but generally this just means the birds weren’t raised in a cage. Our hens, on the other hand, have freedom to go wherever they want. We fence them out of vegetable-growing areas, but the rest of the farm is theirs to explore. They spend most days out in the pasture eating grass, digging along fence lines for bugs, or lounging in the shade.