Past LIvestock

Past Livestock

~ Livestock Breeds We Have Raised In The Past ~

We have tried raising and breeding many different types of livestock, and not all "make the cut", here are some of the livestock we have previously owned and raised.

If you would like to learn more about each breed and why we no longer raise them, just email us at [email protected].

American Blackbelly Sheep

Barbados Blackbelly Sheep are not to be confused with the American Blackbelly Sheep. While they look similar, they are actually two distinct breeds. The Barbados is a naturally polled heritage sheep, and the American are horned crosses. The horns were gained by crossbreeding Barbados Blackbelly with Mouflon and Rambouillet early after they were imported by the USDA. The rams with large horn curl are commercially bred for use on private hunting ranches where size of horn curl is prized by exotic game hunters.

Berkshire Hogs

The Berkshire Hog is a heritage breed of hog and is one of the pig breeds that farmers are finding to work well for small homesteading farms. This pig is hardy, has good mothering capabilities and performs very well outdoors, especially when grazing on pasture. This pig breed's meat is darker than commercial pork and far more flavorful than the pork found in your grocery-store freezer.

Meat Chickens

We are not currently raising 'broiler specific' breeds anymore, we have found that it is unsustainable; it is actually cheaper to regularly purchase broilers as chicks from a hatchery, than to feed a laying broiler flock and hatch babies ourselves! However, we do have processed males (meat) from our Heritage flocks available for purchase, and always available, fresh, free-range eggs!

"Cornish Rocks", "Freedom Rangers", and "Red Broilers" are all breeds of chickens raised specifically for meat production, they are typically just called "broilers" or "meaties". Modern commercial broilers are specially bred for large-scale, efficient meat production and grow much faster than egg laying or traditional dual purpose breeds. They are noted for having very fast growth rates, high feed conversion ratios, and low levels of activity. Broilers often reach a harvest weight of 4-5 pounds dressed in only five weeks, or 8-9 pounds in 10 weeks.

Californian Rabbits

We are no longer raising Californian Rabbits, while wonderful for the small farm or city dweller looking for a good source of meat, we found that with all the other meat animals we have available, it just wasn't necessary for us to raise rabbits as food. Plus they are friendly and cute.

The Californian rabbit is a true American original. Developed in the United States in the early 1920's, rabbit breeders in the United States crossed New Zealand Whites, Himalayans and Chinchillas to finally produce the Californian rabbit. The purpose of this breed was to have a good meat breed that also had good fur. The breed did not become popular for at least 15 years after development. Today, the Californian is the second most popular meat-producing breed in the world. The good fur quality allows this rabbit to also be classified as a fancy breed.

Quail- Jumbo Brown Coturnix

The Japanese quail, also known as Coturnix quail, Coturnix japonica, is a species of Old World Quail found in East Asia. They are a migratory species, breeding in Manchuria, southeastern Siberia, northern Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, and wintering in the south of Japan and southern China.

They dwell in grasslands and cultivated fields. The plumage of the pharaoh Japanese quail breed is a speckled yellow-brown, with a creamy white strip above the eye. Adults are approximately 7 inches in length. The species is abundant across most of its range. Currently there are a few true breeding mutations of the Japanese quail and the breeds from the United States are; Texas A&M, english white, golden range, red range, italian, manchurian, tibetan, rosetta, scarlett, roux dilute and golden tuxedo.

The Japanese quail are used mainly for table and egg production, and is a good dual purpose bird for those with very limited area.

Easter Egger Chickens

An Easter Egger (EE) is any chicken that possesses the "blue egg" gene, but doesn't fully meet any breed description as defined in the American Poultry Association (APA). Often confused with the rare, pure breeds of Araucana and Ameraucana, the majority of chickens in laying flocks that lay blue or green eggs are actually Easter Eggers. Even if a bird meets an APA or ABA Standard of Perfection breed description, but doesn't meet a variety description, or breed true at least fifty percent of the time, it is still technically considered an Easter Egger.

The Easter Egger is known for its colorful eggs; the eggs can range from green to blue and even pink. Originally bred from a South American breed, it has become one of the most popular breeds in the United States today. All "Ameraucanas" sold from hatcheries are actually EE's. You can usually only get true Ameraucanas from Private Breeders, like ourselves.

Olive Eggers

Olive Eggers (OE's) are a variety of chicken that will lay an olive colored egg. These interesting chickens are created by crossing a bird hatched from a Dark Brown Egg (like Marans, Welsummers, Barnevelder, Empordanesa and Penedesenca) and a bird hatched from a Blue Egg (like Ameraucanas, Araucana and Easter Eggers). Generally speaking, if you want very dark olive colored eggs, you need to start with one parent who comes from very dark egg layers, such as Marans. However, Welsummers crossed with blue egg birds can produce offspring who lay a beautiful lighter olive shade, often with freckles. It's been noted that Olive Eggers can also be produced by a parent from a light tan egg crossed to a bird from a blue egg. With this combination, the offspring could give eggs in a very light minty green, a light teal green, or even a blue/green. OE's green shade may vary widely from khaki, olive green, dark mossy green and deep olive green. Every color is interesting and a great to dress up to any egg basket.

Silver-Grey Dorkings

The Dorking is among the most noble and ancient of poultry breeds. It's origins date back to time immemorial. Our earliest record of them is found among the writings of Columella, a Roman agricultural historian of the first century A.D. They are believed to have been brought to England with the invasions of Julius Caesar. It is from this importation that they receive their name as Dorking. In the region of Surrey, England, the town of Dorking boasts proudly of the Dorking chicken on their coat of arms.
Dorkings are considered dual-purpose breeds, which means that they are esteemed for the production of both meat and eggs, but this title is ambiguous at best. Very few breeds, if any, could be said to be the ideal for both meat and eggs. Most dual-purpose birds excel in one area and are passable in the other. Dorkings are an excellent meat bird with acceptable laying abilities. They are said to have the finest tasting meat. As broody hens, they are tough to beat and make excellent natural mothers. Because of their size and reliability, Dorkings can be used successfully to hatch out the eggs of other fowl such as turkeys, ducks, and even geese. Moreover, they are good foragers. They roam carefully over their terrain looking for various treats. Indeed, they are no slouches, but remain busy the day long in search of their fare.

White Ameraucanas

We are no longer raising White Ameraucanas.