Chickens, round 3 — Pickup August 21-23

Email is out to our mailing list subscribers about the new batch of chickens! They will be ready starting August 21. Copy/pasting here in case you are not on the mailing list (if you are interested in chicken, you should sign up).

This batch is NOT antibiotic-free!! Scroll down for more info.

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The order form is up for our next batch of chickens! Sign up here: http://tinyurl.com/chickens2010-3

These chickens will be ready on August 21. They are pastured at Day Road/Suyematsu Farm, home of Laughing Crow Farm, the Bainbridge Island Winery, and more. For now, we will take reservations for 65 birds out of a flock of approximately 75.

For your reference when ordering, we will have at least one more batch of 100 birds after this one, scheduled to be ready on about October 2. So you can expect to be able to order more in about a month, to pick up in ~7 weeks. The last batch of chickens averaged about 4.5 pounds, and we expect this batch to be about the same.

The cost will be $5 per pound total, with a $5 deposit per bird, to be paid when you reserve them, to offset initial feed costs. This deposit will be deducted from your total when you pick them up.

Most of the details are the same as last year:

• We are raising a breed of chickens that is developed from French and Amish heritage breeds: “Freedom Rangers” from JM Hatchery.
• The chickens are fed Certified Organic grains grown in Canada (BC and Alberta mostly), and the pasture is untreated.
• The WSDA permit that applies to farms of our size requires that the end consumer (you) pick up the birds on farm within 48 hours of processing. If you can’t make it in person, you can have someone else pick them up for you.
• Orders will be allocated first-come, first-served. We will take reservations for fewer chickens than we have in each batch, in case of flock loss. This batch consists of about 75 chickens, so we’ll take orders for 65 to start with, and keep a waiting list after that. Folks on the waiting list are likely to be able to get chickens.
• In the unfortunate, and (we hope) unlikely case of significant flock loss, the last to sign up will be the first to have their deposits refunded and their orders canceled, and our sincere apologies — and priority ordering on the next batch.
• We will also likely have “factory seconds” available for less — as a result of errors in processing, these may have broken wings or legs, or need to be skinned, or otherwise be cosmetically damaged but perfectly safe and delicious. Please let us know if you would like to be on the list for these! We may also have pet-food-only-grade chicken; let us know also if you are interested in these.

Important note! This flock received a six-day course of an antibiotic, sulfamethazine, for a suspected coccidiosis infection, with medication ending 40+ days before processing. The instructions say not to consume the critter within 10 days of medicating, so I think we are safely beyond that.
However, if you are worried or strongly opposed to antibiotics in your food, probably best to wait for the next batch in early October.

More info about our chickens and the ordering process is available here: http://www.dropstonefarms.com/about-us-faq/about-our-colored-range-chickens/

Your order will not be considered finalized until we receive a deposit from you! You can send a check for $5 per bird to:

Dropstone Farms
5454 Rose Ave NE
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

If you prefer to pay with cash, or in person, or via trade, or some other alternative arrangement, let us know and we can work it out.

Reserve your chickens here: http://tinyurl.com/chickens2010-3

Please feel free to forward this to interested friends & family. And as always, please contact us with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas, or just to say hi — we love to hear from you!

Lauren & Garth
Email: farmers@dropstonefarms.com
Phone: 206-855-5493