2025 prices: 15-24 chicks $4.50 25-49 chicks $4.25 50-99 chicks $4.00 100-199 chicks $3.50 200-299 chicks $3.00 300+ chicks $2.50 Feb 2026 update: We are not taking orders chicks yet this year. We are in the process of selling the chick hatchery to another local farm. Chicks may be available later in the year, but I am not sure when. In the meantime, we may be offering a different type of slower growing broiler. Updates will be posted when available. About our broiler: Dirt Parrot broilers are a fantastic choice for small farmers looking to raise a slower growing, more robust broiler chickens on pasture. Key Features:1. Pasture-Raised Prowess:Dirt Parrots are perfectly suited to pastured based farming methods. Excelling in pasture environments, they are adept foragers, starting to explore the outdoors at a tender age. Their robust health and natural instincts make them an ideal choice for small farmers looking to implement pasture-raising practices. They can be raised in chicken tractors, but do best when allowed to free range.2. Growth Rates:Our broilers have a moderate growth rate and we recommend processing them around 12-13 weeks when they are about 3.5-6 lbs dressed weight. Roosters will be quite a bit larger then hens. If you are planning on cutting up any of your chickens, we recommend planning on cutting up the roosters and using the hens for whole chicken sales. 3. Heritage Breeding, Ethical Farming:While coming from the same genetics and displaying some of the same characteristics as other broiler breeds such as the Kosher King and Mistral Gris, our Dirt Parrots are their own unique mix of genes. Oak Meadows Farm is also unique in that it completely owns all its own breeding stock and is not reliant on a multinational corporation somewhere over seas for new breeding stock every year.Derived from a heritage breeding lineage, our chickens are the result of meticulous crossing involving Barred Rocks and other heritage breeds. This ongoing project on our farm ensures the continuation of a breed crafted over 10 generations. With a commitment to ethical farming practices, we guarantee no genetic engineering or 'terminal genes,' aligning with the values of responsible small farmers. They will also not breed true if kept for breeding as they are a hybrid cross and the offspring will be different and will not grow as well as the parents. Pure Bred Parent lines are also available for those wanting to breed your own broilers. 4: Egg ProductionWhile hens can be raised for egg production, they will not be as good of a layer as one of the hybrid egg breeds as we mainly breed for fast growth. If you would like to keep the hens for egg production, we recommend restricting their diet after 8 weeks old so they do not get too large or fat. If you would like an order of only black female chicks for egg production or specialty ethnic markets, e-mail me and I may be able to get you some. 5: AppearanceMost of them will look a lot like Barred Rocks with black and white barred feathers, single combs and yellow skin, but you may also get part of your order as black chicks or other colored chicks. They should all grow at the same rate, but make just look different based on the combination of genetics that went into breeding them. 6: Feed and vaccines We feed our breeding stock a high quality, Washington grown feed ration that we get custom made by Red Bridge Farm. It is non-gmo, corn & soy free. We feel that feeding our breeding stock as high a quality feed as possible leads to much healthier and better growing chicks and pays dividends in the long run. Now and then we have supplement with a local conventional feed, but just when we run short on the non-gmo feed and for as short a time as possible. We do not vaccinate either our breeding stock or our broiler chicks. 7: Areas we ship to Orders can be shipped anywhere in the USA or picked up at our hatchery in Ferndale, WA. However, our goal is to mainly supply farms and growers in the Pacific Northwest with chicks as we feel the most humane thing to do is to get chicks from a hatchery that is as close to you as possible. Shipping stress has a huge impact on chick growth and health and should be avoided as much as possible. We recommend working with Freedom Ranger Hatchery for orders east of the Mississippi or another hatchery in your area that actually hatches the chicks themselves and does not drop shipment from a different part of the country. This is why we have chosen to not use third-party drop shippers and only offer chicks that we hatch ourselves. If there is not a good local option near you, consider ordering one of our breeding lines and hatching your own chicks on farm. We would love to see more small scale hatchery all over the country.
