MILFORD - Why did the chicken cross the road?

Not to get to the other side, but to get to Hochstetler's MeadowBlend Farm.

At MeadowBlend Farm, CR 1100N, Milford, the Hochstetler family has their hands full with flocks of chickens every summer - "free-range chickens" that is.

Glen Hochstetler, his wife, Geri, and their four daughters, Glendora, 5; Gianna, 3; Gracelyn, 2; and Gynnae, 6 months; have lived on the farm for 1-1/2 years. Glen said the community knows the farm as the Wehrly Farm.

"It used to be a dairy farm," Geri said. "The community remembers taking piano lessons from Bertha out on the farm."

Bertha Wehrly, 103, owner of the farm, passed the responsibilities to her daughter, Alyce McKenzie, who rents the property to the Hochstetlers.

"She has made it possible for us to fulfill the dream," Glen said of McKenzie.

The Hochstetler family is in their second year of raising and selling chickens and eggs on the Milford farm. They can't think of a better way to instill values about birth, growth, maturity and life than through the experience of working closely with their four daughters on a family farm.

"We are truly thankful for our chance to both raise our family on the farm and to provide healthy nutritious food to our community," Glen said. "We offer the best chicken you can buy."

So what makes the Hochstetler's chickens so great? Glen said it's all in the way a chicken is raised and fed.

"The big chicken producers can't offer you what we can," Glen said. "We offer chickens that aren't injected with hormones, preservatives, antibiotics or other medications. Frankly, we don't need to."

Glen and his family work the farm themselves and raise the chickens in an open field, allowing them to feed "naturally. ...the way nature intended." Glen said they get a "deep satisfaction" out of raising and selling "fresh chickens" for the community.

And so far, the community's feedback has been positive. Geri said customers often comment on their free-range chickens as being "more of a clean chicken and a better taste. There's much more flavor to these chickens."

The Hochstetler's goal for next summer is to raise and sell more chickens and eggs. Selling year-round may also be a possibility, "as long as there's a demand for it," Geri said. "We had a trial run last winter. It was more labor intensive."

Hochstetler's normally sell "free-range" chickens and eggs from April through September.

"We love it," Glen said of the family business.

"It feels so good to have our children participate (in growing the chickens)," Geri added.

The family business is a young business, starting with one-day-old chicks, four young girls helping to raise them and Kristi, the family dog with a family of her own on the way. Glen said Kristi chases away "a daily predator that comes after the chickens."

The chickens are purchased from a local hatchery in Goshen and are available for sale in the summer months. Glen and Geri said they hope to "have more of a business once the community knows us."

"We can't think of a better way of life," Glen said of his farm. "Our free-range chickens are the healthy choice!"

For more information on Hochstetler's free range chickens, contact the family at 658-5588. [[In-content Ad]]