Farming Practices
Learn more about how we farm.
Pastured Laying Hens
The chickens are raised on pasture in an "egg mobile". They are moved onto fresh green pasture every two days. By moving the chickens in this way, they consume more grass and are not too hard on the pasture. This enables us to produce high quality eggs that are free of antibiotics, hormones, or any other medication.
Rotational Sheep Grazing
What is does
At Quirk farms we implement rotational grazing. Rotational grazing is the key to our farming system, it is key to achieving the highest animal welfare, keeping the animals healthy, and results in a positive impact on the farmland land and local ecosystem. Rotational grazing allows us to keep our pastures healthy and fruitful year round. Healthy pastures means we can offer our customers lamb that is entirely grass fed, (the way God intended). We believe this is the way to achieve the healthiest delicious tasting lamb without concentrated feeds and genetically modified grains.​
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How it works
We utilize electric fencing to maximize the amount of rotation. We control the sheep's movements with portable electric wires and posts. We establish 3 major control points with this system.
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Time. We aim to move the sheep quickly so that they stay clean and are always getting plenty of fresh grass. The sheep love their daily moves and rush to get a fresh bite of grass!
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Density. We have unlimited control over the size of the grazing paddock. A tighter paddock will result in a greater impact of the ground and a high concentration of manure (valuable nutrients) left behind. The grass benefits tremendously from the nutrients and regrows vigorously after being grazed off. The grass plants respond beneficially to the biting action and hoof disturbance of the animals and respond better than a field mowed mechanically.
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Recovery. The recovery is the most important piece of the puzzle. The rotation is a balance between recovery and impact it is good to put lots of disturbance (manure) on a pasture, but it must be met with a rest period before the grass can be grazed again. We only graze an area once the grass has reached 8 inches or more in length. This ensures that the grass always has plenty of leaf to collect sunlight. If enough leaf is left the grass can grow more roots, preform photosynthesis and quickly regrow. More grass! This is especially important in the winter months when there is less sunlight and the grass grows slower.
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How it is different
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These management practices differ from many producers in the industry who graze continuously. This does not provide the same clean healthy enviroment for the animals and does not consider the health of the pasture. Without rotational grazing manure can build up in pastures and can cause problems such as water pollution, unsanitary conditions, algea blooms an other environmental hazards. By implementing these environmentally friendly grazing practices we keep our animals healthier and healthier, our farm more productive and our ecology and community safe.
You can learn more about how rotational grazing can save our planet here.
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Pastured Broilers
Animal Welfare
We raise broilers on pasture because we do not approve of industrial chicken farming conditions. Our chickens live outside on pasture with access to shelter. We only raise them in the summer months when it is warm and there is plenty of grass for them to forage. The chickens live happy lives out on pasture where they are free to scratch, peck, run, and eat all the green grass they please. The meat yielded is much higher quality than that of chickens raised in confinement barns.
Meat Quality
You can see it in the color of the meat and the yellow fat. The darker meat color indicates the a diverse diet of pastured chickens resulting in a higher vitamin and mineral content which is provided by the grass and insects the birds consume. The natural sunlight exposure also increases the vitamin D content and overall health and happiness of the birds.
Supporting Local Farmers
We feed the broilers on a mix of grains grown and ground by a local farmer who is very conscious of soil health. He uses animal manures to fertilize his crop land. Little to no tillage is used on the crops in order to protect the soil and prevent erosion. The feed mix is comprised of 75% Non-GMO grains. And pesticide usage is very minimal. This is extremely important to us because we want to know where the feed is coming from and how it is grown. We make great efforts to offer our customers chickens raised right and we want to ensure the feed we give them is grown responsibly. We enjoy supporting the local farmers who care for the land just like we do. The chickens are processed in state at a USDA facility.
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Pastured Laying Hens
Happy Hens
Pastured laying hens are part of our humble beginnings here at Quirk Farms. Our hens are raised on green grass pastures all season long. They spend their days laying eggs, eating grass, flapping their wings, taking dust baths and hunting for insects. Their diet includes a wide variety of grasses, forbes, and legumes, they sunbathe and breathe in the fresh county air all day and then waddle up into their "egg-mobile" at night. We lock them up to keep them safe after dark and in the morning we move them on to fresh green pasture. We let them out and they start their day over enjoying the clean grass.
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Delicious Eggs
Hens raised on pasture produce exceptional quality eggs that taste better and are better for you. The hen's diverse diet and robust living conditions creates an egg with much higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and Omega 3's. It is an incredibly healthy protein and an important part of a low carb diet. These eggs taste much more rich and are sold fresh for nice high sitting yolks and thick whites.
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Land benefits
The Hens are fed a locally grown feed blend from a farmer who takes soil health very seriously. The hens benefit our pastures tremendously and you can tell where they have been from the lush green patches they leave behind. Most poultry farmers muck out their poultry barns and spread the concentrated manure on the fields, the chickens spread the manure right on the pasture for us. No oppressive odors or heavy equipment needed.
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Compost
Microbiology in the Soil
Compost is a great way to increase microbial diversity in our soils. By having a diverse array of bacteria and fungi in the soil we help the plants extract vital nutrients in the soil and also greatly improve plant health.
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The problem with Synthetic Fertilizer
This is the way to unlock more nutrients in the soil and avoid synthetic chemical fertilizers. We do not approve of chemical fertilizers because they are created artificially. Generally they are not stable in the soil and can leach out into the water cycle causing significant negative impacts on ecosystems, wildlife, and drinking water.
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Utilizing municipal waste for soil health
We build our compost from organic waste on the farm and municipal leaf waste. We spread it on our pastures annually to feed promote microbial colonies and increase soil organic matter and water holding capacity.