An Introduction~
After living in the suburbs of Chicago for 5 years, we moved to the country in Central Illinois so that our children could grow up a little closer to nature.  In 2005, after spending two years looking for land (68 acres of rolling pasture, creeks and old woods) and another year building a house, we began raising delicious, lean, good-for-you chicken and turkey.

Why our pastured chicken is better~
Our day old chicks are started in a deep bedding brooder and transferred to moveable pens when they are about 2 weeks old.  They are never fed any hormones, antibiotics, or animal by products. 

 
Our chickens are humanely raised~
When our chicks are about four weeks old, we allow them to free range throughout the day so they get plenty of natural sunlight, fresh pasture, exercise and “delicious” bugs…  At night we close them back into their pen for protection from the owls, coyotes and other natural predators around. 

Our chickens are hand raised~
Each morning, Todd and some of our six children go out before breakfast to open the pens, refill the feed dishes with the supplemental grain and give the chickens fresh water.  We check them again in the middle of the day. In the evening they are put back into their pen and given fresh food and water.  This enables us to regularly see the condition of the flock and very quickly respond to their needs.

A stress free life~
The environment of a small farm is very different than what confinement birds face.  Instead of living in a building with several thousand other chickens, our chickens are raised in a small flock.  There is plenty of space to move around.  The chickens have a clean place to sleep at night and fresh air instead of the pneumonia causing fecal dust air of the confinement housing.  Here there are no neighbors complaining of a terrible odor.  There is no overabundance of animal waste to get into the ground water or contaminate surrounding wells. 

The Salatin Method~
We raise our chicken using a combination of old time art and new age science.  We have based our method of raising our poultry on the Joel Salatin method.  Mr. Salatin has been raising pastured poultry (and other grass fed animals) for over 20 years.  During this time he has refined this method and has proven the benefits of it to the animals and the resulting meat, the land, the environment and the consumer.  His latest book “Holy Cows and Hog Heaven” should be on everyone’s reading list.

Our Schedule~
We receive our first batch of chicks in early spring and raise several batches throughout the summer.  Our last batch of chickens is in the fall along with our Thanksgiving turkeys which are ready in early November.  Instead of fighting against nature and forcing chickens to live without warm sunshine or fresh grass through the winter, we use the winter months to rest up and prepare for the coming year.  We highly recommend that you place your order ahead of time so we can be sure to raise enough to go around.  Although we keep a supply of the meat in the freezer, we can’t guarantee having enough for everyone through the winter months.

Reaching the end product~
We take our chickens and turkeys to a processing plant right in the heart of Amish country in Arthur, Illinois.  Central Illinois Poultry Processing is Amish owned and is a relatively small, federally inspected, facility.    We have also personally inspected their facility and operation to make sure the products we sell are handled carefully all the way through packaging.  We have been very impressed by the cleanliness and efficiency of the facility.  The chickens and turkeys are processed by hand ~ large commercial processors use machines that handle them roughly and can spill contaminants onto the meat.   We pick up the meat the same day it is processed to ensure the freshest possible product.

Taste the difference~
There is no comparison in the taste of fresh, pasture raised poultry to the chicken you can buy in the local grocery store.  The first thing you will notice is the lack of fat when you are preparing it.  A roasted whole chicken produces very rich, savory juices which make delicious gravy.  The meat is firm and tender with wonderful flavor. 

Special ordering~
We normally try to keep a good stock of whole chickens, boneless skinless chicken breasts, drumsticks, wings, and thighs.  We also have packages of backs and necks which are great for making a delicious chicken stock and hearts and livers which are great for fishing.  If we know in advance, we can have the chickens packaged however you want them. 

Getting our product to you~
We live in the country outside of Shelbyville, Illinois and we enjoy having our customers visit us at the farm to pick up their orders (we think everyone should see where their food really comes from).  However, we realize that this is not always possible so in some cases we can arrange to deliver orders.  To keep the cost of transportation low, we need to group several orders together and deliver them all at a central location on the same day.  If you would like to serve as a “host point” for these deliveries please give us a call at 217-774-2583.
 
Our plans for the future~
At the present, we are raising only pasture fed chickens and turkeys.  We also have country fresh brown eggs from our pasture raised laying hens, and are hoping to increase the number of laying birds in our flock so we can offer these for sale also.  We are in the process of building fences so we can begin raising cattle, sheep and goats, and hope to offer beef, lamb and chevon in the future. 

Chicago Area Deliveries~
Currently we have two delivery points in the Chicago area (Old Orchard and Deer Park).  In the near future we hope to add more delivery points in other parts of the Chicago area.  We make deliveries every 4-6 weeks depending on demand.  (If there is enough demand, we could make deliveries even more often.)    When you place your order we will let you know what our next delivery date is.

Jordan Creek Farm
Shelbyville, Illinois 
Phone 217-774-2583
toddandtamara@gmail.com
JordanCreekFarm.com