Bechard Family Farm

Chicken

Our chickens are raised in bottomless pens which are moved daily to fresh grass. The pens protect the chickens from predators and inclement weather while still allowing the birds access to fresh grass and bugs. We only keep a few birds per pen and they get lots of fresh country air and sunshine.

This is one of our fresh chickens that's been roasted for a Sunday dinner. Yumm!!

The chickens we raise for meat are the double breasted broiler called “Cornish Cross”. They are raised out on our fresh pastures in bottomless pens until they are about 8 weeks old. We feed them a custom mix of grain and organic mineral supplements to insure that you get the healthiest bird possible. They get lots of fresh country air, sunshine, and green grass.

Our family butchers the chickens here on our farm the morning of the "on farm" pick up dates. You can pick up your fresh birds here at the farm later that afternoon.

The following day, we deliver fresh chickens to Springfield, MO. They are packed on ice over night. They arrive to you VERY cold, but not frozen.

Our chickens and turkeys are sold on a pre-order basis for the fresh birds, and frozen birds are sold 'as available' any other time.

At the farm, we offer a special "pick-up day only" price on the chickens.

Chickens that are delivered OR picked-up frozen at the farm are a bit more.

For the 6th year now, our Springfield delivery will again be at Mama Jean's Natural Market. This spring, Mama Jean's will be opening a 2nd store! We will be delivering chickens & turkeys to BOTH stores. Customers meet us in the parking lot at Mama Jean’s on the scheduled dates to pick up their chickens or turkeys. We don't have the details of pickup times worked out just yet. Please stay tuned! Be sure to visit their store(s). This great store buys local products as much as possible. With their friendly staff and great selection, you're sure to be pleased!

We also bring chickens and other frozen meats with us to Farmers' Market. If market is closer to you, pre-order your chickens now and pick them up from Armand at market. They will be the delivered price.

If you are looking for a healthy alternative to factory farmed foods, look no further! Come meet your farmer and see how YOUR food is raised!

At this time, we are only able to sell meat within the state of Missouri.

Following is our 2008 schedule for chickens

Please go to Order Meats page to order your chickens today!

Mama Jean's Natural Market
is opening a 2nd store later this summer!
We will be delivering chickens
& turkeys to BOTH stores!
We don't have the details of pick-up times worked out just yet.
STAY TUNED !!

Springfield delivery at “Mama Jean’s Natural Market” 1727 S. Campbell, Springfield, MO	Pick-up day at the Farm 13700 Athens Road. Conway, MO
The processed chickens will weigh between 3# to 4.5# (4# is average).
Out of courtesy to the store, PLEASE direct all questions to the Bechards.
At the store from 4 to 6 p.m. ONLY	At the Farm from 3 to 7 p.m. ONLY
CHICKEN
Delivered at Mama Jean’s, $2.70 per pound	Pick-up day at the Farm, $2.35 per pound
Wednesday May 14 SOLD OUT	Thursday May 15 SOLD OUT
Wednesday June 4 SOLD OUT	Thursday June 5 SOLD OUT
Wednesday June 25	Thursday June 26
Wednesday October 1	Thursday October 2
Wednesday October 22	Thursday October 23

Please go to Order Meats page to order your chickens today!

Please bring a Cooler & Ice.
We accept Cash, Check, VISA, & MasterCard

Here are some of our Cornish Cross chickens growing out on pasture. These birds are nearly done growing. The chicks are raised on our farm from hatch day until butcher day.

Factory farmed chickens (even organic) are raised in confinement houses in which there
are thousands of birds per building. They don't get fresh air or fresh grass. They don't see the light of day. They barely have room to move around. These birds breathe fecal dust and ammonia fumes into their lungs. Is that the
kind of meat we want to feed our families?

Why do we keep our chickens in field pens?

Do you wonder why we keep our chickens in field pens? Take a look at these opossums. Don't they look mean ?!?!? Well, they are!

As important as it is to keep our chickens healthy, it is every bit as important to keep them alive! These are one of the predators we need to protect our chickens from.

Before we had field pens, in only 2 nights, these possums killed 75 chickens!

Now for the humorous side of this story....after their 75 course meal, these possums crawled under house. Armand crawled under the house after them and shot them dead.

By the next morning when he pulled them out from under the house, rigormortis had set in. These dead possums were so stiff we could stand them up, making them look as if they were alive! We had fun taking this picture!

Air predators are a another type of predator that attack our chickens. Hawks and owls swoop down and grab up a chicken and fly away with it. Too many times we have found an owl or hawk on the road munching on one of our chickens.

This owl actually found his way into one of our field pens! Thankfully, there were no chickens in it.

The owl was set free.

As you can see, protecting the chickens is a full time job. We want to care for them and keep them alive and still allow them full access to fresh green pasture. That is why we keep our chickens in field pens.

Book Offer

With your 1^st meat purchase of $250 or more, we will give you a FREE copy of
The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook
by farmer and author Shannon Hayes
(suggested retail $22.95).
Shannon offers many tips on how to best cook grass fed meats
and lots of recipes for beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and more.

For a summary of our products, prices, & practices,
please feel free to print off our Newsletter!

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© 2000-2008, Bechard Family Farm All photos, images, text, and wording are the exclusive property of Bechard Family Farm and may NOT be used or reproduced without permission.

© 2000-2008, Bechard Family Farm
All photos, images, text, and wording are the exclusive property of Bechard Family Farm
and may NOT be used or reproduced without permission.