Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

See A Day In The Life Of A Chicken At NGF

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

May 26, 2022

At Nature's Gourmet Farm we have been providing our customers broilers for the past 10 years. Each year we improve our operations to better care for the chickens and provide our customers a product that is full of ALL NATURAL GOODNESS, nutritious, and free of chemicals (healthy).

Broilers-0212.JPG

This is our first chicken tractors that we used until we built the USDA processing plant. At that time we needed extra capacity so a lot changed.

Chicken-Processing.JPG

This was our first processing setup. Most of the items were homemade because we did not have the money to sink into expensive equipment. And besides, we did not expect to sell more than 500 per year. Boy were we wrong about that!

After several upgrades, our "peeps" are now brooded in a converted reefer trailer. These chicks are about 10 days old and doing very good. There are actually three types of poultry in this picture - broilers, white turkeys, and dark turkeys. This environment gives them a good start to be able to convert to the pasture in 2.5 to 3 weeks of age.

Brooder-2022.jpg

Here is a picture of the broilers on pasture. This is the latest version of tractor and includes better feeders and waterers. Before, we used a trough type feeder that really inhibited movement as it caused a bottleneck which tended to block them from moving forward. These feeders are much less stressful on the chickens during movement to new grass. BTW, as we were moving them Friday morning they were constantly moving forward and eating the fresh vetch forage.

Broilers-2022-0506.jpg

I wanted to show this picture of the disturbance that you can see in the recent daily moves where the grass is virtually gone. However, as you count back about 10 days or so the land is already recovering and new growth has emerged. (I am standing where we moved the tractors left and reversed directions in our daily moves)

Broiler-2022-0506a.jpg

So, here are our six tractors of broilers that we move daily. Each tractor protects them from predators - both aerial and land based - as we have not lost any since converting to these tractors.

Broilers-2022-0506b.jpg

With our pasture based management our chickens receive plenty of fresh air, sunshine (vitamin D), and quality forage and live a very healthy and "happy" life.

We are passionate about how we raise our animals because we want to ensure that they are being managed in a way that restores the health and vitality of the land and to ensure they produce the most nutrient rich and flavorful chicken that our customers deserve!

If you have tasted our pasture raised chickens you know what I mean.

Have been looking for premium ALL NATURAL GOODNESS of beef, pork, chicken, and eggs raised on pasture as God intended - without growth hormones, drugs, chemicals, and antibiotics - and raised humanely then you have come to the right farm. Our delivery schedule and product availability is listed below along with order buttons that will take you to our website where you can browse over 90 product choices and place your order from the convenience of your home. It's that simple!

More from the blog

Health vs. Economics is THE Battle

Health vs. Economics is THE Battle - or maybe health vs. priorities of the general public when you consider that in 2024 the Apple App Store generated $1.3 trillion in sales!!! Vicki, a repeat customer from the MS Gulf Coast, sent me a short 3 minute video from a Joe Rogan Podcast with RFK Jr. discussing pig farms in North Carolina and how the CAFO pig operations got started. NOTE that the big companies own the pigs – the farmers only own the debt and do the work (and take all the risk). Please watch the video here.

"Pasture Raised" Defined

The USDA has officially updated the definition of “pasture-raised” to require that animals spend the majority of their lives on rooted, vegetative pasture, distinguishing it from “free-range,” which only mandates outdoor access. This update became effective March 2025. Here at Nature’s Gourmet Farm that is how we raise our animals – whether it be cows, pigs, meat chickens, egg layers, or turkeys. Pasture raised is our management choice and reflects our stewardship ethos. Frankly, pasture raised is how God created them to be versus. in a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). CAFOs represent man’s inhumane wisdom!!!

NGF Customer Speaks Out

NGF Customer Speaks Out - First, a little background. Stephen & his wife Mary Katherine have been customers of our farm for 5 years. They, along with their 3 boys, have visited our farm. We have shared many conversations about farming and how Mississippi is truly a "food desert" (on a grand scale when only 2% of the food grown in MS is actually raised in MS). I know their passion for eating healthy and supporting small farms. They know my passion to increase small farms that serve their communities nutritious food. One day at our Madison pickup Stephen and I were talking and he asked, "What can I do to help grow the number of small farms?"