Jaye and Jacqui Edens
1200 Old Hendersonville Hwy, Brevard, NC 28712
Phone: 828-702-9929
Email: roosterheadplantation@gmail.com
Website: roosterheadfarms.com
Type of farm
Livestock, meats, eggs, some produce. Farm store selling Rooster Head products and other area farm products, CSA
Certifications, such as organic, biodynamic, animal welfare, Non-GMO, other: none
General practices without certification: Holistic land management, pasture based meats, working toward animal welfare certification, no-spray feeds and crops
Do you use synthetic fertilizers? No
Do you use any of the following: nonorganic pesticides, herbicides, parasiticides, or fungicides? No, except for limited, previous use of herbicide to eradicate poison ivy after vinegar and salt did not work, not in food production areas. Pigs are dewormed with diatomaceous earth.
Do you practice managed grazing? Yes, rotational grazing. Ruminants first, then birds, then pigs.
Do you apply compost or compost tea? Yes
Do you apply other soil amendments? No
Other: Member Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Homegrown by Heroes (with discounts for veterans)
Farm product details
Pork: varied breeds including Yorkshire, American Guinea Hog, Berkshire, Hampshire, Red Wattle, Mulefoot
Mutton/lamb: a goal, have acquired a Barbados Black Belly ram and two females
Chicken (primary product): Cobb 500 meat chicken, a type of Cornish Cross
Chicken eggs (primary product)
Turkey: Planned for holiday season
Produce: small market garden of seasonal vegetables, some u-pick available
Community compost drop-off
Periodic events
Finding your products
The on-farm store has fresh/frozen and dried meats; shrimp from the North Carolina coast; organic, seasonaland fermented vegetables; small/seasonal amounts of local fresh cow milk/pet milk and related products; household and personal care items. Other products from Make Do Farm, Pucker Up Berry Farm, Clem’s Organics. All in Brevard, all no-spray, non-GMO.
Hours, weather permitting because open air:
Mar-Oct, Wed-Sat 11-6
Nov-Feb, Fri-Sat 11-6
Also: Tiered CSA including this and other nearby farms; deliveries; advance orders order by phone, email, website, Facebook, Instagram. Ordering instructions are online at these locations.
Animal Husbandry
Do you use antibiotics and/or hormones? No. Occasional use of animal-grade antiseptic, similar to peroxide. Would use an antibiotic only if an animal was sick, not needed to date. An animal given antibiotics would not be sold for meat.
Are the animals pasture-fed? If yes, how much and for how long? Yes, throughout life.
Do you use supplemental feed?
— For pigs: Small ration daily of conventional feed; vegetables and fruit discarded due to appearance; vegetable juice pulp; spent brewing grain; local, no-spray corn from on-farm crops; minerals
— For poultry: local, no-spray corn; conventional, local feed containing soy, sorghum, millet, minerals
Do you purchase pre-mixed feed from an elevator or do you grind your own? Pre-mixed.
Do you personally attend to your animals at least once a day or do you hire help or farmers to do that for you? Personally attend.
Are the animals born on your farm at the address listed? Pigs are born on farm. Most chickens from Bob’s Biddies Chicken Hatchery in Ga. and from Dry Ridge Farm in Madison County.
Do you only sell animals that are raised on your farm at the address listed? Yes, except stewing hens partly raised at Dry Ridge Farm.
Do you ever purchase animals from auctions or from your processor or do you ever buy parts from your processor (such as whole pork bellies…)? No.
Butchering
Meat butchered at a USDA-certified or state-certified abattoir? USDA: Pork (and lamb when available)
Meat butchered on the farm? Chicken
