FULL GROWN CHICKEN HARVEST

harvesting this january 24, 2009... limited stocks. book now! =)

thanks for your support. =)

bondir... spring game hens...

bondir.. yes, it will be called such...

will be harvesting spring game hens this weekend. =)

these are 5 to 6 week old sunshines that are super tender. great for babies, kids and solo roasting. =) average weight is 600-800 grams. it is a little bit pricier because it is more expensive to raise, its like lechon de leche of chickens

you should try it and see what "tender and juicy chicken" means. =)

BIG BROODER

just came back from a long vacation last saturday and visited the farm on tuesday to check on the construction of big brooders... here it is...

the mama goat... which bought for "katuwaan" she is preggy... let us see where this takes us...

SOLD OUT...good products sell themselves... first hand experience. =)

FIRST ORDER OF THE DAY

two weeks ago, i was chatting with one of my best buds, bebs, (sosyly known to her friends as GEN! hahahha), A-CERTIFIED-OC when it comes to healthy eating specially for her kids, about how i plan to market la ferme's chicken and what are the benefits of eating "organic" (as is no antibiotics, no growth hormones) free range chickens... i was also telling her of my concerns if the chickens will sell, since this is my first time to get into farming and it leans on the high end or rather, the healthier products side. i was also getting her advise, suggestions and opinions, as a consumer, on the labels, packaging, leaflets, etc....of course, i also asked help to sell the chickens...

GOOD PRODUCTS SELL THEMSELVES

what do you know!!??.. before we were finish chatting, she already ordered 11 chickens! (multi-tasking huh?! working, chatting and selling chickens all at the same time! ahaha) and 10 to 15 mins after chatting, she texted.. 'MAKE IT 13 CHICKENS!" i was so grateful.. and it was a much needed shot-in-the arm.

i like consulting my ideas with bebs coz she gives me no frills, no nonsense, straight-to-the-point, honest answers and opinion, that's when you know your friend is for real! =) am happy to enjoy her friendship. we go a long way back. and she now has 2 kids. and another on the way! ahahahahaha... the second one is my god child, cute astrid, but i love smart little zac as much.

DINNER TIME

the same day, me and my lovely wife, yvette, had dinner with derrick and sab, we had japanese buffet at zensho, along t. morato, a stone's throw away from my house, it was the-manger'-s treat that night and of course la ferme's chicken was a major part of the converstion. hehehe.. i also consult my very good friend the-manager-derrick for business advise. he is a successful businessman, with investments in lubircant and pharma distribution, his expertise are on, of course, distribution and operation. this guy will make it big for sure! a natural leader and a very passionate entrepreneur. Sab, on the other hand, is a fast learner, mild natured and a very good partner to derrick, they compliment each other. we always go out, have dinner and fun together. MAGASTOS INI!

BACK TO CHICKENS

i was telling sab and derrick about how i was talking to bebs earlier that day and was able to sell 13 chickens without even trying to sell! hehehehe..

i also asked help in looking for potential distributors in qc area and sab willingly offered help.

the next morining, sab told my story to her mom, probably over breakfast, and before i brushed my teeth, sab texted me to say that her mom is interested in helping me distribute our products in qc! yehey! i talked with anty josie around 10AM, and two days after, she ordered 13 chickens!

i guess 13 is not such a bad number at all! hehehe

so by saturday, november 15, 2008, we made our first delivery! feels so good! i picked up the chickens at the farm, brought them to the house for final cleaing, inspection and weighing. alas!.. we delivered the chickens by 730pm, running late (i know!).. tired but very happy! it was all worth it!

i had dinner alone at UCC to wind myself down and relax.. i was still hyperactive from the adrenaline rush! hahahah.. by 10pm, i headed home to my beloved wife and daughter. tama nga sila.. NAKAKAWALA NG PAGOD! =)

WHAT'S NEXT?

bigger brooders are now being constructed, but for the meantime, we will be loading our second batch of sunshine's, this coming Monday.

not ready for christmas.. =(.. but ready for i-wanna-be-healthy-this-2009 season! hehehehe

what a journey... what a life. =)

dangers using of antibiotics and growth hormones in poultry farming for human consumption

i am posting a couple of sites where you can read about the dangers and effects of using antibiotics and growth hormones as a "growth supplement" and for "disease prevention" in industrial chicken factories ("farms").

these sites are also included as LINKS to la ferme's multiply site.

note that as of now, the practice of mixing low doses of antibiotics in poultry feeds is still very prevalent here in our country. as a matter of fact, la ferme organique had a hard time sourcing unmedicated commercial poultry feeds in rizal. thanks to SOLRAYA (who introduced us to feerdpro and SANTEH, manufacturer of FEEDPRO- PRO AVIAN. they are so far the only unmedicated feed supplier that i have encountered. they are very supportive of organic (unmedicated) livestock farming.

please take time to browse the websites below...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-01-23-natural-chickens_x.htm

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/khor-cn.htm

http://www.allergyconsumerreview.com/antibiotic-resistance-articles.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=G4m2kGkIEqgC&pg=PA235&lpg=PA235&dq=effects+of+antibiotic+in+chicken&source=web&ots=oXgxN8B-_Y&sig=KXFRkJYZUqK9q-Nbvh5v7_T7a94&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA233,M1

http://farzanapanhwar.blogspot.com/2007/08/role-of-antibiotics-and-hormones-in.html

let us give ourselves, specially our chilren, a chance to be healthier and to taste the real goodness of chicken...not gravy.

Spring break...950

we are now doing test harvest on all the stages of the sunshines to identify the characteristics of the meat in each stage.

it took me a while to write this blog because my first attempt was deleted because of bad internet connections... =(. hay!!! anyways...

dinner was great. Spring chickens were tasty and most of all.... TENDER!. our house staff dressed them live from the farm. we roasted four chickens for five adults (2 pregnant women, 2 big boys and our dear mother) and my precious baby alaine.

stuffed and marinated only with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, onions, salt and pepper, nothing more and nothing less. =) roated in turbo broiler for 1.5 hour at... 260 degrees.

alaine was suppose to have chicken arroscaldo but when i checked the tenderness of the meat, we decided to let her have her first adult food meal! =).. yes, it was memorable indeed. she enjoyed the chicken as well and ate both white and dark meats. (NOTE: she only has four front teeth!)

the family had a great time eating, scrutinizing and commenting about the qualities of each part of the chicken. evern the spring chicken's breast was tender and... TASTY. i bought lechon sauce from baliwag just incase somebody wanted some gravy with their chicken but whala!... the lechon sauce was barely touched! the only sauce that everybody used was PINAKURAT VINEGAR, as dressing for the stuffings, and not for the chicken.

contrary to what i expected, the spring chickens were meaty, the bones were small but firm (at 32 days!) the average dressed weight of each chicken was 750 grams (live weight 950 grams). all along i expected the chickens to be all bones, no meat, but they proved me wrong. =).

a ready market would be our only concern for selling this type of meat... would Php 150 SRP be an acceptable price for a piece of good, tasty and melt-in-your-mouth tender spring chicken? you tell me...

FIRST HARVEST

Yesterday was the 34th day of the sunshines. the average weight of the big ones are 970 grams.

there are still the small ones and i have decided to give them away to my caretaker for food, definitely not for raising.

Their appetite for food and water has doubled and we are adding more feeders and waterers.

Monday would be their first day of ranging. i am excited to see them range. am sure it will be like going to the beach for them. hehehehe

I always take pictures of them whenever i visit the farm. this gives me s snapshot of what the condition of the sunshine's and the brooder.

we are now having a hard time sourcing dry sawdust or rice hull. i hope we solve this problem before we load the next batch of chickens which will definitely need more ricehull and saw dust.

FIRST HARVEST, i harvested 6 chickens from the farm yesterday. i chose the bigger ones and bought a chick box where i put them.

WHY 6? its one chicken for each family member.

on the way home, I dropped by the market to buy two bundles of lemongrass and headed to our house immediately so dressing can begin.

At home, our yaya took charge of dressing the chicken but had to pass the torch to our help because she had to attend to my kyonie daughter.

I realized that its not easy to dress chickens. they started around 6pm and finished around 10am. well, they are not professionals and its their first time.

one of them chopped the onions, garlic, ginger and pounded the lemongrass which we will use as marinade.

i left for a dinner meeting in makati and when i returned they were still cleaning the chickens! i told them to call it a night and just marinade the chicken tomorrow.

The average dressed weight of the chickens are 750grams in 34 days.

TODAY, as i write this blog, my dependable house staff are preparing the chickens and putting all the stuffings inside for tonights action!

i called my mom and my brother to invite them for dinner. they are excited. and so am i!!!

we are going to have turbo roasted chicken, oh sorry! turbo roasted sunshine! hehehehe... i had 5 chickens prepared and my daughter is going to have her arroscaldo sunshine.

till my next blog... most probably after tonight's dinner! buurrrpp... hehehhe