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About Our Animals:
Chicken
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Turkeys
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Laying Hens
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Lamb
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Pork
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Beef
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Rabbits
Chicken:
We raise two breeds of broilers for meat, the Contentnea Red and the
Cornish Cross. The heritage bloodlines that went into the creation
of the Contentnea Red makes it an ideal �rotisserie� bird. The
Contentnea Red bird serves equally as well for frying or barbeque.
The breast size of the Cornish Cross makes it the ideal choice for
individual cuts. The method of production that we use produces
chicken with a firmer texture while maintaining an incredible
tenderness and without the fat found in most chicken. The superior
taste of Rainbow Meadow Farms Chicken comes from the diet of the
chickens which consists of approximately 30% grass/herbs and
insects. Once the chickens are feathered out, they are moved into
pasture where they rotate paddocks after the sheep and cattle have
grazed. We not only offer whole birds and cuts, but Gourmet Chicken
Sausages and Ground Chicken as well.
The USDA doesn�t allow the use of synthetic hormones in poultry, so
you will not find any in what we produce. We mix probiotics, herbs
and natural plant extracts into our feeds to aid in the immune
system development of our poultry so that we do not have to use
pharmaceuticals.
Turkeys:
We raise both Mammoth Bronze turkeys as well as heritage breeds such
as Blue Slate and Bourbon Red. Our turkeys are raised following the
same production and health protocol as our broilers. We produce both
whole birds (seasonally) as well as Ground Turkey and Sage Turkey
Sausage.
Laying
Hens:
We have a laying flock of 900 hens spread out over the different
farms. The breeds consist of Production Reds, Dominque,
Americauna
and Barred Rocks. The laying hens move throughout the pastures on
our 3 farms, consuming a diet rich in plants and bugs and
supplemented with grains and oyster shell for calcium. Some of the
hens use portable sheds or eggmobiles to roost in at night. Some of
those hens come inside at night to roost in our Raken (Rabbit/Hen
house) where they help to create compost from the rich rabbit
manure.
Lamb:
A mild, tender and delicate flavor is the hallmark of Rainbow
Meadow Farms Dorper Lamb. We chose the Dorper breed as it is especially
well suited to the pasture-based rotational system of sustainable
farming employed by Rainbow Meadow Farms. The delicate flavor of our
lamb is embued with subtle variations based upon the seasonality of
the grasses, legumes and wild herbs in our pastures. All the lambs
are born and raised right here on our farm from a flock that we have
spent the last 14 years developing through importations of the best
genetics that we could find from around the world. We have selected
our breeding stock for their hardy foraging ability, maternal
characteristics and the ability to provide a year-round supply of
lamb. Once processed, the carcasses are dry-aged for one week before
being processed into labeled kitchen-ready cuts, vacuum-sealed and
frozen. We also offer value-added products such as our Gourmet Lamb
Sausages.
Pork:
Rainbow Meadow Farms Berkshire Pork can be described in two words,
"lush and incredible". It was our desire to produce pork that tasted
the way pork used to taste. No more "hard as a brick" pork chops. We
knew that producing tender pork would require different genetics
than the lines commercially available. It would require genetics
from pigs maintained on pasture for generations. It would require
genetic lines that produced a pork product richer and deeper in
color with good marbling. Pork is NOT "The Other White Meat".
Berkshire pork is known throughout the world for exceptional
juiciness, flavor and tenderness. Thus, Berkshire-sired pork was the
obvious choice for our farm.
We maintain a farrow/finish operation with the sows farrowing on
pasture when the weather allows. The pigs are given access to
pasture as soon as they can get up and walk around (weather
allowing). The production model that we use to raise our pork
naturally produces a hardy, healthy pig.
The USDA doesn�t allow the use of synthetic hormones in pork, so you
will not find any in what we produce.
The flavor of Rainbow Meadow Farms Berkshire Pork is enhanced by
what they feed on: grasses and herbs, acorns, small grains such as
barley and millet and vegetables such as turnips, Our pork offers a
uniquely distinctive taste experience. Our growing line of pork
products includes a diversity of cuts of pork as well as fresh
sausages that do not contain MSG, Nitrate/Nitrite-free Applewood
Smoked Bacon and European-style Charcuterie.
Beef:
Good beef starts with a good calf. A good calf starts with a good
genetics. That is what sets Rainbow Meadow Farms Beef apart from the
competition. From the very beginning of the farm�s history, our
family has raised beef cattle. We selected for animals that were
compact in size, hardy and efficient foragers, easily converting
even sub-optimal forage to muscle mass. However, for about 30 years
we altered our herd genetics to those desired by the feedlots for
commercial synthetic hormone-enhanced grain finishing as we were
selling our calves into this market. This was a major mistake as we
compromised the quality and taste of our beef as well as the
sustainability and hardiness of our herd. When we decided to go back
to marketing our own beef directly to customers, we decided to go
back to the bloodlines and conformation type that the settlers
recognized as sustainable. We use a process called linear
measurement to select the breeding animals for our herd. Our goal is
to produce an efficient, well-balanced animal which has a hardy
foraging ability, docility and rich milk. The American Devon was
chosen as the sire for our herd due to the fact that the breed has
continuously been selected for sustainability in forage-based
systems. Devon have the conformation and qualities desirable for the
future of a sustainable beef system.
Today�s commercially available industrial feedlot beef receive an
average of 5 implants of synthetic hormones. This started over 35
years ago, this industrialization. The addition of synthetic
hormones in beef reduces tenderness and flavor. Our animals are not
raised in that manner. Commercial beef carcasses are cut shortly
after slaughter, bagged and wet aged for a few days. This does not
allow for the natural tenderizing affect. We dry age our beef for 3
weeks to increase the flavor and tenderness. Also, dry-aging has
been scientifically proven to significantly reduce bacteria levels
on carcasses.
A commercial hamburger can literally contain DNA from over 1082 cows
of both domestic and international sources (*1998 University of
Colorado) Our beef is processed 1-2 times per month with just a few
steers at a time being processed. Commercial ground beef is often
produced through AMR (Advanced Meat Recovery) system which has been
implicated in several major ground beef recalls for E.coli O157:H7.
The AMR technique grinds bone and meat to make a paste which is used
in the production of commercial hamburgers. (See Food, Inc.) That is
why the USDA encourages all hamburgers to be cooked to well done. We
do not use AMR because we do not believe it�s healthy. We just grind
the old fashioned way.
Our herd is a cow/calf herd. Calves are born and raised on our
pastures. Because they are not under a feedlot situation, they stay
healthy. This traditional method of beef production provides for the
best possible quality of life for the animals and the best possible
meat quality, while constantly improving our soils with valuable
manure from our animals.
Upon completion of the dry-aging process the carcasses are then
hand-cut into smaller pieces and vacuum-packaged into convenient
portions. Because of our small size and low volume, everything we do
involves the greatest care and attention to detail. We offer
individual cuts with discounts for volume purchases. We also offer
value-added items such as Pastrami and Roast Beef for sandwiches.
Our beef is processed under USDA inspection and tested for E. coli.
Our lamb and pork as well as our poultry processed under USDA
inspection is tested for Salmonella to verify that we are producing
a healthy product.
Rabbits:
Our rabbits are housed in the Raken (Rabbit/Hen) barn where they
receive alfalfa pellets and hay or green grass. A group of our
laying hens help to break down the rabbit manure into rich compost
which will serve as a high quality fertilizer for the pastures. All
rabbits are born, raised and processed right here on the farm as
whole rabbits. Our rabbit is a very popular item and we often sell
out as soon as a batch is processed.
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