"I had the dream, which my parents say they wish they'd pursued years ago, but now I employ them," Polnasek said proudly of the family affair that his farm represents. Like his parents, Edward and Cheryl, who ran the family farm while working full-time as a county employee and medical receptionist, respectively, Polnasek continues to work full-time at the Co-op while managing the demands of his growing enterprise, which not only features egg-laying chickens, broiler chickens, peacocks, and roosters but goats as well, from which he's created his own line of goat's milk soap. Since sourcing his eggs from Polnasek, "my wife and I enjoy eggs for breakfast five days a week and we love knowing where they come from. "Tim's chickens are grass-fed and their eggs are brighter than the sun, just phenomenal," he added. "I like fresh things and having fresh eggs to cook and bake with is a treat," Stratowski said. Polnasek's care and attention to detail aren't lost on customers like Somerset resident Frank Stratowski, 64, a private home inspector and customer of Belle Meade Farmer's Co-op who met Polnasek there about three years ago.
Polnasek poultry farm free#
"Our chickens are pasture-raised and free to roam in the field," he said. He attributes the quality of his eggs to the top-notch chicken feed that he sources from nearby Laine Farms in Hillsborough, which consists of a non-GMO blend of corn, oats, soybeans, calcium, and a laying mineral, as well as to his concern for the happiness, health, and well-being of his flock. "They have a more vibrant, deep orange-yellow-colored yolk, a less runny white, and more flavor than bland commercial eggs," many of which have been sitting on shelves for weeks by the time consumers purchase them at supermarkets.
Polnasek poultry farm crack#
"Our eggs look and taste different when you crack them," he said. "People increasingly want to know where their food is coming from and, as a result, the market for farm-fresh eggs has exploded," said Polnasek, who loves to answer his customers' questions and even lets them collect their own eggs so they can be part of the process. View Gallery: Get farm fresh eggs from pasture raised hens at Polnasek Poultry Farm
Polnasek poultry farm plus#
Since growing his brood from 12 to 300 chickens - largely of the hybrid Red Comet variety, which can lay eggs once every 24 to 26 hours - over the past two years, Polnasek currently supplies 100 dozen eggs to the Co-op each month plus many more to other outlets, including the Neshanic Flea Market as well as to eager residential customers at $3.50 a dozen. His big break? "I began supplying eggs to the Co-op and my farm started taking off," he said. In addition to answering questions about products, loading up customer orders, and otherwise helping to support that operation, Polnasek took a leap of faith and launched his own poultry farm in April 2013. After graduating from Hillsborough High School, Polnasek worked at a local housewares store for two years until landing his "dream job" at age 20 working at Belle Mead Farmer's Co-op in Hillsborough, a nearly century-old landmark specializing in animal feed and lawn and garden supplies.
"My grandfather lived near us and always had peacocks, which I helped him feed and take care of, but receiving three of my own really kicked everything off for me," said the devoted animal lover, who subsequently bought 12 chickens when he was 15. But he credits his particular interest in starting a poultry farm to three peacocks his grandfather gifted him for his 13th birthday nearly a decade ago.
"I was always running equipment or machinery and doing whatever needed to be done on our farm from a young age and always dreamed of being a farmer," Polnasek said. Today, as Polnasek Poultry Farm prepares to celebrate its second anniversary this month, Central Jersey residents and retailers are flocking to snap up its farm-fresh eggs, chickens, and special brand of customer service, while its entrepreneurial young owner represents a model of industry and stands as a leader among a new generation of Jersey farmers. Tim Polnasek likes to joke that, except for the day he was delivered at the hospital, "I was born and raised on our farm in Hillsborough."Ī 5½-acre parcel originally purchased by his parents in 1990, the property began operating as a firewood and Christmas tree farm in the mid-1990s until recently, when Polnasek, 22, pursued his dream and repurposed the enterprise to focus on poultry.
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