Ethically-Raised Meat

Organic Pasture-Raised Eggs

At SpringRain Farm, we think in systems.  So we raise ducks that lay eggs, but we also think about the other services they provide. The ducks play a critical role in eating mummy berries to help control that awful fungus in our blueberry field and pests in our orchards. The ducks provide rich composted manure for our trees and plants and they are integral to our Integrated Pest Management System by eating insect pests and diseases.  

We used to raise chickens for eggs, but have stopped for at least a while. We made this tough decision based on several factors: our organic feed has almost doubled in price, ducks spend all day grazing on grass and weeds and eat much less grain than chickens, they lay more eggs per year, and our ducks lay for many years longer than chickens. They are a much more sustainable way to produce eggs.

Organic Chicken

We raise Chimacum Rangers, which are meat chickens originally bred for the French organic market and are slower growing than commercial meat birds.   They live on the pasture and spend time everyday outside being confined to their portable shelters at night to protect them from predators. This results in delicious flavor and higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin E, and other nutrients (Ponte et al., 2008; Gorski, 2000; Sun et al., 2012) than other chickens.

They are rich tasting, and while tender, the meat has more texture than a mass produced bird.  This is because commercially-raised chickens are raised in buildings with no room to move; thus they don’t develop much muscle mass or tone.  Our birds run, peck, strut, flap their wings, and develop more naturally.  For most recipes, this means our birds benefit from 30 to 60 minutes of brining before cooking.  They are delicious whether grilled, roasted, fried, or smoked.

Organic Duck

We raise a wonderful White Pekin meat duck. It is a French Grimaud hybrid and does very well in our pasture-based system. Like all our birds, our ducks eat organic feed from In-Seasons Farm and whatever grass and bugs they find out in the apple orchard they live in. We are proud to produce duck for our customers and for many fine restaurants in the PNW. Roasted, braised, or confit, our duck is delicious.

Forage-Fed Rabbit

We raise rabbits to provide a tasty meat that is highly nutritious and good for the environment.  Rabbit has the best feed-to-meat conversion ratio and is very low fat.  Our does and bucks live in our rabbit barn in large cages.  We keep the young rabbits with their mom until they are 5 weeks old and then move them to a large room where they can hop around on the floor, hang out in a herd, and hide in tunnels. They stay there until they are harvested at 10 weeks.  They eat alfalfa pellets and organic greens from the farm along with apple and willow cuttings.  They are processed on-farm in our WSDA licensed facility.