Poultry
The American Poultry Association identifies 450 distinct breeds of chicken in the world, and there are many more still to be recognized. Consumers are most familiar with standard breeds, such as the white Leghorn and the meaty Cornish, which provide most of the eggs and meat sold in large supermarkets. Most heritage-breed chickens lay fewer than 200 eggs a year, far less than the production of a Leghorn, which attains over 300 eggs in its short production laying period of two years.

However, diverse heritage chicken breeds have a lineage going back thousands of years. Gallagher Close Farm is focused primarily on heritage breeds, especially those on the Livestock Conservancy's priority list. We always have about half of our 60-100 chickens from that list in our henhouse, changing the breeds around regularly, although one of our favorite breeds, the Australorp, will always have a place in our coop.

Along with wholesome feed, we offer our chickens a diverse menu of grains, greens, and dairy as well as a free-range area for them to forage for bugs. This provides a higher quality of eggs and poultry for our patrons. In the summer, we add lawn and field clippings and garden thinnings and weeds to their area, and in winter we augment their diet with a warm meal in the afternoon, usually  a bucket of oatmeal and milk with cabbage or other greens and table scraps, with flax seed and other organic additives to provide for a healthier chicken and a healthier egg.

At Gallagher Close, we are committed to building a poultry business that not only produces high-quality products but acts as a platform for innovative ideas in poultry management built on traditional farming techniques.