Poultry


At the Herbert Farm we raise around 600 meat birds each summer. This includes around 500 broiler chicken and 70 turkeys. In addition to these birds, we have a flock of laying hens which we maintain year-round. These birds provide our customers with fresh farm eggs throughout the entire year.
Meat Chickens
Our broiler chickens are typically raised on the farm from day-old chicks all the way to full grown birds. As soon as the young chicks are old enough, we move them out of the brooding barn into specialized, movable pens outside. Once they are outdoors, they have access to fresh grass every day, as well as any bugs or other protein sources they find in the grass.
All the way from day-old chicks to ready-to-butcher, these chickens are fed our home-rolled, all natural feed. As a result of the healthy feed, a daily access to grass, and living outside, these birds are robust and healthy. They are wonderfully tasty too! Our average chicken weighs around 4-7 lbs - big enough to feed a large family or to have leftovers for the next meal! We sell both whole chickens and cut up chickens, and try our best to find the size of bird that will work well for each of our individual customers.
Turkeys
We raise our white turkeys from day old birds until about 17 weeks old. The resulting birds average between 6-9 kg once they are dressed and in your freezer. Just like our chickens, the turkeys are moved to an outdoor pen as soon as they are old enough to thrive in the elements. Once they are in the outdoor pen, they have access to new grass daily and a continual supply of all natural, healthy, home-made feed.
The Herbert turkeys are typically larger than the average turkey you can buy at the grocery store, and they are more flavourful and juicy too! Our turkeys are a favourite of many of our customers for their yearly Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations with family and friends!
Fresh Farm Eggs
Our laying hen flock is a group of birds that we maintain year-round. We always have a flock of mature birds who are providing our customers with eggs each week. To keep the flock healthy and productive we raise a new batch of layer poulets (young hens) each year. This allows our older hens to retire when they are too old to keep laying, and ensures we always have a supply of yummy, farm-fresh eggs.
In the winter time our hens and roosters are kept in a barn, but in the summer we allow them to roam outside in a fenced pen. This allows the birds to have access to green stuff, bugs, vegetable scraps, and other natural forages that keep them healthy and happy. Having access to these natural food sources results in healthier and richer eggs as well! Our customers often notice that the yolks of our eggs are darker than the yolks of eggs they buy at the store (ours are almost orange sometimes!) - this happens especially in the summertime. This is a sign that the eggs are high in Omega3 and very healthy for everyone!