Have you ever seen the movie, "The Birds." - I haven't either. But from what I have concluded is that it is a movie about a large amount of birds that attack and kill people. Sound fun?
Not really. BUT the place Labecca and I visited, was A LOT of fun. A large flock of birds didn't attack us or anything, but we did get to see many turkeys, chickens, ducks, pheasants, quail, partridge and geese. And these birds were pretty cool (especially the ducks.)
Not really. BUT the place Labecca and I visited, was A LOT of fun. A large flock of birds didn't attack us or anything, but we did get to see many turkeys, chickens, ducks, pheasants, quail, partridge and geese. And these birds were pretty cool (especially the ducks.)
On our 3rd day near Pequot Lakes, after a relaxing night in a hotel and eating at Mayson's Grille in Jenkins, MN we took some back roads to visit an agricultural industry leader:
"Wild Acres Game Farm."
Wild Acres is located near the heart of northern Minnesota, deep in the woods. When we drove onto the site, we were greeted by the sights and sounds of many of the birds that call Wild Acres home as well as the towering buildings that gave them shelter.
Wild Acres is the largest hatch to harvest farm for poultry and game birds in the United States.
We were given an excellent and informative tour of the farm and facilities starting with hatch, and finishing with harvest.Wild Acres has been a great friend of FFA with their sponsorship of of the Pheasant and Duck Release Programs around the state.
The first building we visited had several, large scale incubators. They look quite similar to a large refrigerator, however they are at a constant temperature of 99 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the eggs are picked daily, by hand, from the breeding pens, disinfected and then placed in the incubators. We were lucky enough to have visited on hatch day! The picture says it all. Over 125,000 birds are hatched at Wild Acres annually from their own stock.
(These chicks and ducks do not live in here forever. They hatch and then eventually moved to a large pen with heat lamps to transition them into their future on the farm with in the same day.)After getting a chance to even hold the newly hatched chicks, we were taken to the various barn that housed the birds in their different stages of life.
One of the outdoor pheasant pens we looked at had over 4,000 pheasants in it!
The final stop was the processing building. Every single week, over 1,000 birds are processed on the farm and sold to locals as well as large restaurants in the metropolitan area of Minnesota. And on each and every day that these birds are processed, a State employed inspector is there to ensure the safety and welfare not only of the birds but of the employees. I enjoyed every minute of my time here and I hope to visit in the future, and possibly put my name on a covey of quail to buy.
Wild Acres Game Farm is a 2nd generation, family farm.* Visit their website to learn more...
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