Yardbirds Farm
Welcome. We are currently working our way through city permitting but in the meantime here is some info about the farm and the barn project.
Stay tuned for NOLA-raised poultry meat, coming Fall 2025.
About Yardbirds
Yardbirds Farm is an urban pasture-raised poultry operation located in Lower Algiers of Orleans Parish and owned/operated by Kelly Cahill. The vision for Yardbirds Farm is to build a sustainable, pastured poultry business that includes raising meat birds, processing birds on site, offering shared use of the slaughter shop, and providing educational classes on poultry raising and processing.
Yardbirds Farm is committed to rebuilding soil, mitigating climate change, and prioritizing animal welfare by using sustainable, regenerative farming practices. We receive day-old chicks in the mail, transport them to a safe, clean, warm brooder to grow until about four weeks old. We then transfer them to pasture pens. Daily moves in pasture pens ensure the birds live a peaceful, healthy life with access to fresh forage and the necessary space to express their natural instincts. This system evenly applies manure to the field, increasing soil fertility, preventing erosion, and building organic matter.
For Yardbirds Farm, prioritizing animal welfare goes beyond life and into death. On slaughter day, birds are collected in the early morning, comfortably packed into plastic poultry crates, and moved to the on-farm processing shop. Slaughtering birds on site is important because it limits stress on the birds, eliminates transportation costs, and allows the farm to turn the processing waste into nutrient-dense compost.
About Kelly
Kelly has been farming since 2013 in various sectors of the organic/regenerative agriculture industry. She has worked on and managed both diversified livestock operations as well as small to large scale vegetable farms. Her wide range of experience has informed a management and production style that honors herself, her animals, and the Earth while prioritizing efficiency, sustainable work practices, and a high quality product. In 2022, Kelly started her own pasture-raised poultry farm business in rural Virginia. She raised 1,500 birds, both for the farmers market and through a contract.
In the winter of 2023, she moved back to her home state of Louisiana and is excited to share her knowledge and passion for all things food with the New Orleans community. Kelly is originally from Lafayette with both her parents hailing from Baton Rouge.
Kelly loves spending her free time birding, canoeing, cooking, and running around with her hound mut Shuggie.
About The Site
Kelly leases a ½ acre of land from Cheryl Nunes and Annie Moore of River Queen Greens Farm, a Certified Naturally Grown diversified vegetable farm in Orleans Parish. Their property is 80 acres of undeveloped land and is bordered on three sides by two roads, and an 8 acre pond. 10801 River Rd. is zoned as a Rural Residential Estate for agriculture. Legally, I am able to raise birds. Processing them at the farm on the other hand can only be permitted through applying and being approved for a Conditional Use Permit.
The barn will consist of two raised 40ft shipping containers- one for processing birds and one for raising chicks- a roof built overtop for shade and rainwater collection, and a wood deck to connect the containers. The area the barn will take up will be approximately 240 sq ft. The barn will be approximately 250 ft from the road and over ¼ mile from the nearest neighbor.
Get in touch.
kelly@yardbirds-farm.com