Fairweather Farm
Ashland Oregon
Chickens at Fairweather Farm
We have eggs available seasonally - $3.00/dozen (these are for eating, not hatching).
Farm pick up, or pick in on A street in Ashland.
Our chickens get organic feed and free range in the pastures with the goats and sheep
...they are particularly delicious since they come from happy chickens!
Chickens are the greatest farm animal of all, I believe everyone's lives would be improved by a few
chickens in the backyard! Not only do they eat scraps and decorate the barnyard, entertain us and
produce wonderful garden supplements, turn the soil and eat insects; they put themselves away at
night, and they lay delicious eggs!
Most of our chickens are layers, we have a wide assortment of breeds in all different colors so
we know (almost) every chicken by name. Perhaps since they have arrived a few every year for
some years, they all get along pretty well and we have not had many problems. We don't give
them supplemental light in the winter, and as a result they don't lay much in December and
January, but in the spring and summer they sure can lay a lot of eggs.
Eggs and the Hens that lay them
We used to put pictures of all the girls here. It's been too hard to keep it updated as chickens
are added and/or pass away, so we're only including a selection of the senior hens.
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Meat Chickens
We raise Ideal's red broilers for meat chickens. They are fairly fast growing, but healthy and active,
unlike the cornish cross standard meat chickens, which are very fast growing but sluggish and unhealthy.
Unfortunately, our poultry processor closed down. So while we plan on raising more meat chickens, it's
unlikely we'll be selling any meat chicken.
Online hatcheries
I've ordered from three online hatcheries,
Murray McMurray,
Shanks (now Lazy 54) and
Ideal.
My one McMurray order shipped on a Saturday (!) in February and the chicks were
in bad shape when the arrived; 10 dead out of 28, and two did not
survive long. Alexci was close, had to be force fed and watered for
several days and has been learning disabled since. They are in
Missouri. I'd rather not order from McMurray again; besides this,
they are also quite expensive and I don't like the personalities of
the chickens.
Shanks shipped on a Wednesday and the chicks arrived that same day,
and all are fine. They are located in Oregon. It was also *much* cheaper.
The order was short one chick (24 chicks arrived)
I've been ordering from Ideal most frequently, since they have nice meat chickens
and turkeys as well as a great selection of layers. We generally have a dead chick
or two but in general they have been fine. Turkey chicks (poults) do tend to die.
For all the chicken breed photos and information you might ever
desire, go to Feathersite
City Chickens
I started raising chickens when I lived in Portland. In Portland and many other
cities, it's legal to have a few chickens (no roosters, though).
To learn more about raising chickens in the city, see this site:
City Chicken Site
last updated: 5/16/08
