Introducing The Perroquet De Terre Broiler Chicken: A Pasture-Raised Marvel for Small Farms
Perroquet De Terre Broiler Chickens ("Peh-roh-kay Deh Tehr"), are a fantastic choice for small farmers looking to raise a slower growing, more robust broiler chickens on pasture.
Perroquet De Terre roughly translates to Dirt Parrot in French.
Key Features:
1. Pasture-Raised Prowess:
Perroquet De Terre chickens are perfectly suited to pastured based farming methods. Excelling in pasture environments, they are adept foragers, starting to explore the outdoors at a tender age. Their robust health and natural instincts make them an ideal choice for small farmers looking to implement pasture-raising practices. They can be raised in chicken tractors, but do best when allowed to free range.
2. Growth Rates & Weight:
Our broilers have a moderate growth rate reaching a respectable 5 lbs (live weight) by 10 weeks. You can process at 10 weeks for meaty fryers or allow them to mature to 12-13 weeks (8-9 lbs live weight) for delightful roasters. Roosters will be quite a bit larger then hens. If you are planning on cutting up any of your chickens, we recommend planning on cutting up the roosters and using the hens for whole chicken sales. Hens should be allowed to grow to 12-13 weeks unless a small size bird is wanted. Our broilers have a respectable amount of breast meat, but really excel in the dark meat department with large thighs and drumsticks. Even their breast meat is a lot darker and more flavorful compared to Cornish Cross.
An example of cut up percentages can be found below. This is just an example and exact weights will vary.
A 4.70# whole dressed rooster not including neck, feet, or giblets breaks down to roughly:
Breast 0.90#, Leg Quarter 1.73#, Wings 0.55#, Frame/back 1.52#
3. Heritage Breeding, Ethical Farming:
While coming from the same roots and displaying some of the same characteristics as other broiler breeds such as the Kosher King and Mistral Gris, our Dirt Parrots are their own unique mix of genes. Oak Meadows Farm is also unique in that it completely owns all its own breeding stock and is not reliant on a multinational corporation somewhere over seas for new breeding stock every year.
Derived from a heritage breeding lineage, our chickens are the result of meticulous crossing involving Barred Rocks and other heritage breeds. This ongoing project on our farm ensures the continuation of a breed crafted over 10 generations. With a commitment to ethical farming practices, we guarantee no genetic engineering or 'terminal genes,' aligning with the values of responsible small farmers.
While hens can be raised for egg production, we do not recommend it as they will grow to large and fat to be good layer unless kept on a very tight diet. They will also not breed true if kept for breeding as they are a hybrid cross and the offspring will be different and will not grow as well as the parents.
4: Appearance
Most of them will look a lot like Barred Rocks with black and white barred feathers, single combs and yellow skin, but you may also get about 4-5% of your order as black chicks or other colored chicks. They will all grow at the same rate, but make just look different based on the combination of genetics that went into breeding them.
More information on how to raise them can be found in the management guide below. We are updating the management guide as we go so fill free to ask questions or make suggestions for improving it.
5: Feed
We feed our breeding stock a high quality, Washington grown feed ration that we get custom made by Red Bridge Farm. It is specify formulated to maximize hatch rates and chick health and vigor. It is also non-gmo, corn & soy free. We feel that feeding our breeding stock as high a quality feed as possible leads to much healthier and better growing chicks and pays dividends in the long run.
Perroquet De Terre Broiler Chickens ("Peh-roh-kay Deh Tehr"), are a fantastic choice for small farmers looking to raise a slower growing, more robust broiler chickens on pasture.
Perroquet De Terre roughly translates to Dirt Parrot in French.
Key Features:
1. Pasture-Raised Prowess:
Perroquet De Terre chickens are perfectly suited to pastured based farming methods. Excelling in pasture environments, they are adept foragers, starting to explore the outdoors at a tender age. Their robust health and natural instincts make them an ideal choice for small farmers looking to implement pasture-raising practices. They can be raised in chicken tractors, but do best when allowed to free range.
2. Growth Rates & Weight:
Our broilers have a moderate growth rate reaching a respectable 5 lbs (live weight) by 10 weeks. You can process at 10 weeks for meaty fryers or allow them to mature to 12-13 weeks (8-9 lbs live weight) for delightful roasters. Roosters will be quite a bit larger then hens. If you are planning on cutting up any of your chickens, we recommend planning on cutting up the roosters and using the hens for whole chicken sales. Hens should be allowed to grow to 12-13 weeks unless a small size bird is wanted. Our broilers have a respectable amount of breast meat, but really excel in the dark meat department with large thighs and drumsticks. Even their breast meat is a lot darker and more flavorful compared to Cornish Cross.
An example of cut up percentages can be found below. This is just an example and exact weights will vary.
A 4.70# whole dressed rooster not including neck, feet, or giblets breaks down to roughly:
Breast 0.90#, Leg Quarter 1.73#, Wings 0.55#, Frame/back 1.52#
3. Heritage Breeding, Ethical Farming:
While coming from the same roots and displaying some of the same characteristics as other broiler breeds such as the Kosher King and Mistral Gris, our Dirt Parrots are their own unique mix of genes. Oak Meadows Farm is also unique in that it completely owns all its own breeding stock and is not reliant on a multinational corporation somewhere over seas for new breeding stock every year.
Derived from a heritage breeding lineage, our chickens are the result of meticulous crossing involving Barred Rocks and other heritage breeds. This ongoing project on our farm ensures the continuation of a breed crafted over 10 generations. With a commitment to ethical farming practices, we guarantee no genetic engineering or 'terminal genes,' aligning with the values of responsible small farmers.
While hens can be raised for egg production, we do not recommend it as they will grow to large and fat to be good layer unless kept on a very tight diet. They will also not breed true if kept for breeding as they are a hybrid cross and the offspring will be different and will not grow as well as the parents.
4: Appearance
Most of them will look a lot like Barred Rocks with black and white barred feathers, single combs and yellow skin, but you may also get about 4-5% of your order as black chicks or other colored chicks. They will all grow at the same rate, but make just look different based on the combination of genetics that went into breeding them.
More information on how to raise them can be found in the management guide below. We are updating the management guide as we go so fill free to ask questions or make suggestions for improving it.
5: Feed
We feed our breeding stock a high quality, Washington grown feed ration that we get custom made by Red Bridge Farm. It is specify formulated to maximize hatch rates and chick health and vigor. It is also non-gmo, corn & soy free. We feel that feeding our breeding stock as high a quality feed as possible leads to much healthier and better growing chicks and pays dividends in the long run.
We hatch broilers weekly. Orders can be shipped anywhere in the USA or picked up at our hatchery in Ferndale, WA. We maintain our own incubators on site and do not use third-party drop shippers.
Availability
Our first hatch of 2024 will be the first week of April. We are planning weekly hatches after that for the rest of the season. Please order as far in advance as possible to ensure the hatch date you would like.
May is sold out.
June and the rest of the year are pretty much still completely available.
Our first hatch of 2024 will be the first week of April. We are planning weekly hatches after that for the rest of the season. Please order as far in advance as possible to ensure the hatch date you would like.
May is sold out.
June and the rest of the year are pretty much still completely available.
Pricing:
Our minimum order is 25 for shipping. Order minimum does not apply to orders picked up at the hatchery in Ferndale, WA. Prices do not include shipping. Quantity Price 1-49 $4.00 each 50-99 $3.75 each 100-174 $3.50 each 175-249 $3.00 each 250+ $2.50 each We do not offer vaccinations at this time. If you need your chicks vaccinated, we recommend ordering the supplies from here and vaccinating the chicks as soon as they arrive. |
Place orders below by filling out order form.We will email you an invoice with your total and shipping costs after you fill out the form.
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We are NPIP certified clean of Pullorum-Typhoid & Avian Influenza. NPIP #318