The Farr Homestead

About the Farr Homestead- a family farm in Troy, Maine

We are excited to offer our own on-farm breed of dual-purpose chickens for sale. We breed them for a combination of egg and meat production, as well as friendly temperament and foraging ability. Usually the cockerels are ready to be culled for meat at around 16-18 weeks, and the pullets typically start laying at around 20 weeks. They remain productive as layers for a long time and continue to grow throughout their whole first year.

One unique aspect of the breed is that they have been selected for growth and laying performance on a soy-free diet, which is not necessarily true of most breeds. Since soy feed is so common in both conventional and organic breeding, the growth rate and laying performance of most breeds is generally being evaluated (and breeding selection taking place) based on soy feed. We believe very strongly that chickens are much healthier without soy feed, but it is also true that soy will make chicks grow very rapidly. So, we began selecting dual-purpose birds that grow quickly and lay well on the natural diet we feed them: pasture, bugs, field peas, wheat, oats, barley and corn.

All of our chicks are Certified Organic, and we can arrange for you to purchase them anywhere from day-old up to twenty weeks. If you prefer to hatch your own, we also offer hatching eggs for sale. Contact us for pricing and availability.

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