Feisty Acres Farm

Fresh chickens catching that glorious spring morning sun! Catch me at Grand Army Plaza today from 8am-2pm. In addition to fresh broiler chickens I have chicken eggs, duck eggs, and quail eggs in full force!

Tell me it ain’t true. The weatherman is wrong, right? I thought the snow time was over. Ah, real spring weather coming at us here on the North Fork. Rain, wind...and maybe a little now tomorrow. Which means we’re out here prepping the birds: extra feed, straw or wood shavings to bed them down, and moving some birds housing around so they’re sheltered from the elements. Let’s do this!

Just a friendly reminder from one of our Rhode Island Red ladies, The rooster may crow, but the hen delivers the goods.

Dirty, dirty duck eggs. When these start rolling in, Chris and I know spring is on its way. Within the next few days, we’re expecting the other 67 ducks to begin putting in work. And you know what that means guys: duck eggs for all!

Food fight. Ever see those cartons of eggs in the store that tout all vegetarian fed diet and die a little inside? Yeah, me too.... Birds are omnivores. Let them eat what they’re supposed to eat.

I was on line to vote right at 6am this morning and was happy to see a line of thirty or so people wrapped around the fire house. It was civilized, people sipped their coffee, I got to chat with my neighbors and have a couple laughs. The folks working the polls were kind yet focused upon the gravity of their job. In about forty minutes my ballot was cast. In a few minutes Chris and I will be off to feed the birds. I know this might not be everyone’s experience today; we’re lucky to live in our small town. In fact, I try to not take it for granted as I lived and worked in countries where not everyone had the privilege to vote. So for those of you waiting on long lines today and dealing with the jitters, here’s a video of some fat, happy birds giving me grief as I collect their eggs. Watch til the end for some even more good feels.

Did you know that chickens lay eggs standing up? That’s right: after setting in their nest box for about twenty or so minutes, getting everything just right for show time, they rise to their feet and get ‘er done! And they always lay their egg with the fat end coming out first. Another fun fact: if you ever pick up an egg that has just been laid, you will note a slightly sticky coating on the outside. That is what’s known as the bloom, which is a protective layer that prohibits bacteria and microbes from penetrating the porous egg shell. If you don’t wash your eggs, you won’t wash the bloom off, meaning you can store your eggs safely outside of the fridge. Once you wash your eggs, even with just water, you wash the bloom away and must then refrigerate your eggs.

Let’s squash a couple rumors milling around local social media circles, shall we? The illuminated structures you see on the north road in Southold are not: 1. Full of mosquitoes ... 2. Growing marijuana 3. Housing chickens They are, in fact, shelters for our adult quail hens that we raise for egg production! Since quail will completely stop laying eggs after the fall equinox, due to a decrease in daylight hours, we give them supplemental, full spectrum lighting so that they will continue to lay eggs for us through the winter. The lights are on from 5am to 7am and then again from 5pm to 9pm. Afterwards they shut off automatically to allow our girls to get some shut eye. As chicken egg productions falls through the fall and winter and duck egg production stops entirely, having a reliable source of egg production through the winter is of extraordinary importance for our year round farm operation. Please feel free to share this post so that we stop getting emails about our weed tents.

Woman vs. chicken. Watch until the end to see how many eggs were actually underneath her sassy ass.

Thanksgiving Turkey Update: ALL pre-orders are sold out. Yes, even the broad breasted whites. We will have a few turkeys available for open market purchase at our Brooklyn and Manhattan markets in November. So keep a sharp lookout. Thank you to everyone who reserved a bird this year! So many of you have been getting turkeys from us from the beginning and it’s a privilege to raise them for you and your families.

And this was just from last night. Yes, the quail ladies are ramping up. It’s very exciting! Our CSA members will be getting first dibs on these guys over the next couple of weeks and then we will begin pickling these gems. Thank you again, to everyone, who has been patiently waiting for their return! And for those of you wondering, there’s about 150 quail eggs in here.

Attention raw feeders: our mistake is now your gain! On Tuesday, we messed up a bunch of Cornish hens in the plucker, so they’re a little beat up and not salable at our markets. But they are great for your pets! All organs intact and some even have a few feathers on them. Just some tears and broken joints. They are available for pick up here on Long Island and our nyc markets. We do not ship or deliver. Pre orders available on our website. $15 each. Birds weigh between 1.5 and 2 pounds.

For those of you asking at our markets, the next batch of heritage chickens will be available at the end of next month. They’re currently growing. Thanks for your patience.

It’s 8:09pm. I’m sitting in my van at the Taste NY rest stop on the LIE having some coffee and am about to go and stretch my legs. I’ve been up since 3am this morning and all I can think about is the early morning walk down to the bay that Chris, Phyllis, and I took yesterday. And it wasn’t too soon after I snapped this photo that we found the fuel line to the scalder to be broken, back in the facility where we process our birds, which upended a whole day’s worth of plans. Th...is is hard, so don’t pretend it’s not. I’m talking to you, farmers. The ones that put on a brave face despite all the elements out of your control. The droughts. The economy. Unexpected equipment failure. Illness. Theft. All that shit. It’s a lot to deal with. And it’s a lot to deal with when you’re seated with the task of feeding your community. And supporting a family. And growing a business. And being in the public eye. There’s not many out there that understand what you’re going through. And I’m sorry for that. But I know just how you feel. On #nationalmentalhealthday I want you to know that’s it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, but if that shit gets too heavy, it’s time to reach out to your support system. Maybe even beyond your support system. @domoreag and @americanfarmbureau have resources to help you through the quagmire. Please use them. We still need you out here to do what you do best: feeding the people.

Dear Grand Army Plaza customers: our poultry selection this week will be very limited due to a fuel line break in the scalder we use during harvest. Hopefully Chris will get it fixed before the end of the weekend so we can get back to business by Monday. So please get to market early tomorrow if you want Cornish hens, quail, or stew hens. Numbers are very limited until next week! Thanks in advance for understanding.

Egg washing this morning as I wait for Chris to finish chores so we can begin harvesting birds for the week’s markets. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am to be washing these quail eggs alongside our chicken and duck eggs. I’ve missed them so and we know you have as well! Expect to see a return of our fresh quail eggs to our nyc markets and Southold. Availability will be limited at first, but will grow as the weeks go by. And yes, that means pickled quail eggs will also be returningmore towards the end is the month.

I have some really adorable photos of Phyllis sitting nicely in front of a brooder of quail. But I very much like this photo where she looks like a dog super villain about to unleash her hungry flock of birds upon me.