AVA, MISSOURI · LOCAL PICKUP ONLY · BY APPOINTMENT EST. 2014 · STANDARDBRED · ALL NATURAL
— WHAT WE ACTUALLY SELL —

Natural, Heritage Breed
White Cornish Cross

Two heritage breeds crossed by hand. Not the supermarket broiler.

A standard-bred White Cornish rooster over a standard-bred White Plymouth Rock hen. Slow-grown. Organically fed. Grazed all day. The chicken your great-grandmother roasted, still made the same way.

AVAILABLE NOW
$100 BREEDING PAIR
RESERVE A PAIR NOW →
— READ THIS FIRST —

Our birds are NOT the industrial "Cornish Cross" Frankenbird.

The word "Cornish Cross" gets used two very different ways. On our farm it means one thing; in the grocery store it means something else entirely. Do not confuse the two.

The industrial version is a proprietary hybrid owned by a handful of multinational genetics companies. Ours is a hand-mated cross between two heritage breeds that both breed true. Same three words, opposite bird.

SIDE BY SIDE

OURS · HERITAGE CROSS

Natural, Heritage Breed White Cornish Cross

  • PARENTAGE
    Standard White Cornish rooster × Standard White Plymouth Rock hen. Both parents are heritage breeds — both breed true.
  • GROW-OUT
    12 to 14 weeks to finish. Slow, natural, muscle-first growth — the same rate a chicken has grown on farms for a hundred years.
  • LIFE
    Roams the pasture all day. Legs and heart hold up. Reaches breeding age. Behaves like an actual chicken.
  • FEED
    100% organic Kalmbach starter/grower crumble plus open pasture — bugs, grass, seeds, whatever they find.
  • REPRODUCTION
    Natural mating. A breeding pair from us keeps producing offspring like themselves — no hatchery loop, no artificial insemination.
  • MEAT
    Firm, flavorful, good omega balance. Fine white breast meat from the Cornish side, feathered fullness from the Rock side.
  • OWNERSHIP
    Our flock. Traceable back to Frank Reese's Good Shepherd Ranch in Lindsborg, Kansas — and behind him, Cornwall, England, 110 years ago.
INDUSTRIAL "FRANKENBIRD" · NOT OUR BIRDS

Industrial "Cornish Cross" broiler (the Frankenbird)

  • PARENTAGE
    Proprietary multi-generation cross of trade-secret lines owned by three multinational breeding companies. Not a breed — a product.
  • GROW-OUT
    Forced to slaughter weight in about 6 to 8 weeks. Growth so fast the body cannot keep up.
  • LIFE
    Legs and joints buckle under the weight. Sudden death syndrome. Ascites (water belly). Heart and lung failure. At 6 weeks old they are physiologically elderly.
  • FEED
    High-protein commercial ration, medicated. Feed is often removed at night to keep them from eating themselves to death. They don't forage.
  • REPRODUCTION
    Cannot mate naturally — the breast is too heavy, fertility too low. Parent stock is typically artificially inseminated. Buy new chicks every batch.
  • MEAT
    Tender because the bird is a baby. Water-heavy, mild-flavored. Higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio — the less-desirable fat profile.
  • OWNERSHIP
    The genetics are intellectual property. Three companies control the global broiler gene pool. A farmer cannot preserve the line — only rent it, one hatch at a time.
— WHY WE DO IT THIS WAY —

A chicken should be able to be a chicken.

The industrial "Cornish Cross" Frankenbird is a triumph of engineering and a failure of husbandry. It converts grain into breast meat faster than any bird in history and it cannot walk to the water dish without breathing hard. Its whole species has been reduced to three companies' trade secrets.

We aren't trying to fight that industry. We're trying to keep something alive that predates it — the actual heritage Cornish, and the honest hand-mated cross that used to just be called a farm chicken.

Our birds walk. They forage. They grow at the pace a heart and pair of legs can keep up with. They eat food a chicken evolved to eat. When we breed a pair, the offspring is a chicken, not a licensed product.

That is what "natural, standardbred, non-GMO, organically fed, pasture-raised" means on this farm. Not marketing — the definition.

SEE AVAILABLE PAIRS →

Breeding pairs · $100

Click the Natural, Heritage Breed White Cornish Cross card on the home page for the current pair list and pickup dates.
THE FOUNDATION FLOCK →

Natural, Heritage Breed White Cornish

The pure standard-bred bird behind the cross. Kept on the farm as breeding stock — read the story.