KW Homestead

Pasture Raised Poultry & Edible Landscaping Plants Since 2013

Tag: pastured poultry

Ethically Raised Meat in the Triad, NC

Ethically raising meat is about looking beyond oneself to the greater health landscape: the health of our planet, our family, and the animals we raise.

Raising meat in an ethical way is about raising animals with respect and considering their instincts and innate needs as living things: room to roam, healthy and wild food to eat, social interaction and freedom from fear, and optimal health.

This is why we raise all of our animals on pasture, outside, breathing the fresh air—where animals belong! This is also why we are committed to feeding all of our birds and mammals non-GMO feed. Non-GMO feed limits the pesticides that burn our soils, and keeps us (and our animals) from ingesting harmful doses of toxic chemicals.

Raising animals in an ethical way also means that we raise our birds so that we actually rebuild the soil, rather than destroy it. Our animals are moved to new pasture frequently, allowing the old pasture to regrow and rebuild. We practice rotational grazing so that different species (including the cows) rotate over the same landscape and add their own microbial and micronutrient contribution back to the soil, making the soil even richer and alive than when we found it.

We strive rebuild our land, our health, and our relationship with nature one day at a time.

Consider giving the gift of ethically raised meat this Christmas, as either a KW Homestead gift certificate or a Chicken CSA package! Message us for details!

Give the Gift of Health: Label Check!

What does it really mean to give the gift of health? 

Meat and poultry come with all types of labels, some of which mean healthier, cleaner meat, and some of which mean next to nothing. 

When you buy a chicken, duck, or turkey in the store that is labeled organic, cage-free, free range, or naturally raised, do you know what these labels mean? 

—Organic means that the bird is fed organic feed, but it still lives its life inside, crammed together with other chickens.

—Cage-free birds also spend their entire lives inside, packed in next to other birds

—Free range birds’ lives aren’t much better… Free range means that they are essentially the same as cage-free but they have access to the outdoors… Usually a small door that leads to a concrete patio—although the birds are too cautious to venture outside where there’s no food.

—Naturally raised birds can be raised in any way imaginable. This label only sounds great, but means nothing at all. 

The labels that do mean something are pasture raised, humanely raised and harvested, and truly free range—all phrases that describe the poultry that lives on our small farm. It’s important to keep in mind that these labels aren’t regulated so you always need to do your homework about what they mean to each farmer. 

To us, pasture-raised means that once our chicks leave the brooder (the warm space that protects them when they are small babies), they live their lives on pasture and forage not just in plain grass, but among wild, native plants, fruit and nut trees, and in the woods. They don’t live in cramped tractors and have tons of space to run, hide, hunt, and rest—EVERYDAY. Our poultry has higher levels of micronutrients and omega-3s than birds raised in other ways, and a richer flavor.

To us, humanely raised and harvested means that our animals are treated with the utmost respect, and we process all of our birds (ourselves!) on our farm, outside, without added stress. This reflects in the quality of meat and the meat’s lasting quality.

Knowing what the food labels mean allows you to make an educated choice about how you’d like to feed your family and yourselves. This holiday, consider giving the gift of a KW Homestead gift certificate or Chicken CSA to those in your life who value health! 

Dust Bathing Chicks @ KW Homestead

Our Red Ranger chicks are a few weeks old, and they absolutely love taking dust baths! Did you know that dust baths are super important? They prevent parasites such as mites and lice from finding a home in the chickens’ feathers! This video shows our awkward “teenaged” birds taking baths… Please forgive the loud goose honking that mostly covers my narration.

Red Ranger Chicken Parts Are Back!

We raise only the best, most nutrient dense meats here at KW Homestead! All of our birds are raised outside, on pasture, free ranging around the woods and grasses. They’re supplemented with non-GMO grain and are humanely harvested when they mature.

Because we only raise pastured birds, we don’t raise birds in winter, when there’s no green pasture for them to enjoy. For this reason, we are sometimes out of stock on our more popular cuts of meat in the early spring. But never fear, all of our Red Ranger chicken parts are now back in stock! Flavorful Boneless & Skinless Breast and rich and moist Thighs are ready for your dinner table!

  1. Swing by one of our Triad market locations to grab yours today, or reserve a pack for delivery via email.

Red Ranger Chickens on Pasture

Our Red Ranger broiler chickens are truly pasture raised! They spend their days eating grass, bugs, and worms and ranging around through the greenery. Here’s a video of our newest batch of birds, taking time out in the heat of the day to relax.

 

Pasture Raised Chicken Liver: Your New Superfood

Not All Liver is Created Equal…

Livers might not be a part of your usual diet, and if they’re not, now is a great time to start supplementing your body with this super food.

Traditional livers bought in an average grocery store don’t benefit you as much as you might think. Although they carry many of the same micro nutrients as our livers, they also carry the toxins that the animal, which has been raised in a cage or inside and fed subpar feed, has accrued in its organs throughout its life span. The liver is one of the organs that holds onto all of the toxins and chemicals that the animal has come in contact with or consumed. So while these livers carry positive nutrients they also carry detrimental ingredients as well. But, KW Homestead’s chicken livers are only beneficial! Because our chickens are raised on pasture and fed non GMO feed that is fresh, high-quality, and local, their livers are as clean as can be! This means that when you supplement your diet and your family’s diet with our chicken livers you can only expect good things.

Liver is a Nutritional Powerhouse

Did you know that a 100g serving of chicken liver provides MORE THAN HALF of the recommended daily amount for iron?!

One serving, around 3.5 oz of chicken liver, offers 172 calories, more than 100 of which come from protein! This serving contains 25.8g of protein, which provides MORE THAN 40% of your recommended daily amount for protein.

Wonderfully, chicken liver is a complete protein because it contains ALL of the essential amino acids, which are those that your body cannot produce. One serving provides MORE THAN 50% of the requirement for all essential amino acids!

One serving also supplies MORE THAN 100% of the recommended amount of vitamin A, folate, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and B12 and MORE THAN 50% of your daily needs of choline, vitamin B6, and niacin.

This makes liver an ideal food for pregnant and nursing women. Emma made sure to eat tons of pate during her pre-pregnancy journey! People who eat Paleo or Weston A. Price diets can trust that our livers provide a healthful, clean, and nutrient dense energy source.

Many folks also enjoy feeding livers to their pets, especially those feeding a raw diet. Liver is certainly one food that your dog won’t turn down!

A Few Liver Recipes

Our two favorite ways to cook with liver are by creating a pate with butter and spices and by making a liver dumpling soup. Both methods have their merits, with the dumpling soup perhaps better suited for folks who don’t love the taste of liver.

Happy eating!

Pastured Poultry Delivered to Your Front Door!

We are excited to announce that we now offer delivery for our pasture raised chicken, duck and duck eggs to customers in the Greensboro, NC area!

KW Homestead at the Corner Market

We love seeing customers at the Farmers Market, but sometimes you just can’t make it!

We realize that sometimes it’s hard to get to the farmers market, but that doesn’t mean you want to go an entire week without your delicious, free range poultry fix. So, we decided to offer a delivery option to our local customers, both old and new.

Delivery Fees and Protocol

For now, until we get our new online store fully stocked and functional, we will be taking delivery orders by email. We’ll then let you know your delivery date, and ask that if you will not be home, to leave a cooler with ice packs by your front door, preferably in the shade.

  • Orders  $150 and over receive free delivery!
  • Orders $40  – $149 have a $7.95 delivery fee.
  • Orders $30 – $39.99 have a $9.95 delivery fee.
  • Orders $15 – $29.99 have a $14.95 delivery fee.
  • Orders under $15 have a $22.95 delivery fee.

The more you buy, the lower the fee! Of course, all orders picked up at the farmers market in Greensboro are always free.

These fees also apply to our Chicken CSA customers who would like to take advantage of home delivery. In this case, we will use your discounted price to figure out the delivery fee. For example, our Deluxe Chicken CSA is $4.99/lb, so if you order two 4.5 pound chickens, your product total is $44.91 (9 lbs x $4.99) with an added delivery fee of $7.95.  You could also add other items, like a dozen duck eggs, to this order if you like!

So remember, don’t feel down the next time you can’t make it to the farmers market, simply shoot us an email (ourochreway@gmail.com) with your order, and we’ll make sure you get your favorite humanely raised and harvested, duck, chicken, and eggs.

SPECIAL!!! This week enjoy 10% off all chicken parts! From boneless breast to juicy thighs! Expires after Saturday August 26, 2017.

 

Pekin Ducks on Pasture

What a lovely sight… Seeing our birds out on pasture and enjoying life. It doesn’t get any better than that!

 

 

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Pekin Ducks: Pasture Raised and Having Fun!

We started raising animals for our family, and have since expanded to be able to offer meats to your family, too! But you can be confident that we still raise our animals the same way we did in the beginning; with our family and the highest health and nutrition standards in mind. When you eat one of our Pekin ducks, you should know that your product is the best of each batch! We eat our duck, chicken, turkey, and eggs right along side you, and we keep the funny looking (pin feathers or a funny packaging job) for ourselves. We feed ourselves and our most beloved family the meat we raise, and name you part of our farm family! Thanks for supporting our poultry-raising endeavors… We’ll be proud to offer you meat for many years to come!

This video shows you how we raise our Pekin ducks. Raised the right way, on pasture and in the free air (with a couple guard geese as allies!).

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What’s Up at KW Homestead? Animal Picture Edition

We are running full steam here at the homestead this Spring season! Between selling our free range Pekin duck and duck eggs at the Corner Farmer’s Market, kickstarting and expanding our garden, and getting ready to offer the most nutritious, delicious, truly free range chicken in Greensboro, time is flying by!

But so much is happening here, that we wanted to share some of it. This brief post will focus on the animals here at the homestead, a quick check-in with some of the stars of the show.

pot belly pigs on pasture

Our young weaner pigs getting moved to fresh pasture.

dexter cattle pasture

Ruby, our new Dexter momma checking things out.

dexter calf

Little Johnny is doing great! He loves running around and exploring.

freedom rangers on pasture

The Red Rangers are out of the brooder and out on pasture!

pasturd poultry greensboro

Our 2 African geese stand guard inside the electric fence and sound the alarm if anything goes awry. Or if they get bored.

Stay tuned for a plant update, and more details in the future!
And don’t forget to reserve your Free Range Chicken or Heritage Thanksgiving Turkey today!

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