Our Animals
We take pride in all of the animals that we keep here on our farm. We have a wide variety of animals on our farm from the cows and pigs to the little chickens.
Lowline Cattle
We are growing our herd of Lowline Cows. They are possibly best known for their size with the Bulls being 39-46 Inches tall at the shoulder and weighing 950-1350lbs. The cows tend to be even smaller standing at 36-42 Inches tall at the shoulder and 650-950lbs.
Most people have never heard of the lowline breed. In 1974, researchers in Australia started a project to figure out whether larger or smaller animals were more efficient at converting grass to meat. The trial took place over the course of 19 years.
The researchers had 3 herds. These herds were called the High Line, Low Line, and Control Line.
The Lowline herd started with 85 fullblood Angus cows. To those cows they added yearling bulls. From 1974 the Low Line herd remained closed with all the replacement animals taken from inside the herd.
After 15 years of selective breeding the Low Line herd was about 30 percent smaller than the High Line herd. The bulls were maturing at about 43 inches compared to the standard Angus bulls at about 59 inches.
When the researchers were going to stop their experiment and send the cattle to slaughter 7 farmers bought the cattle at auction and joined together to form the Australian Lowline Association.
Lowlines may be a smaller breed but they are not considered miniature cattle. They are true beef cattle in a smaller frame, and they do not carry the gene for dwarfism. Fullblood Lowlines are 100% Angus heritage, naturally polled, docile, and producers of high quality meat.
We will be offering Lowline cattle as beef in the long run but currently we are building our herd and we don’t currently have any steers available for beef.
Stay tuned though as we do have some beef cattle that will be ready to go in the fall of 2026. Shoot us an email and let us know if you would like to be added to the list to be contacted with details when the beef cattle are closer to ready to go.
For our current offering of beef we have Angus/Simmental and Angus/Charolais crosses available this fall. If you would like to be notified when they are available to order see our order form and we can add you to our contact list for beef.
Pigs
We raise mixed breed pigs that are completely different from any of the pork that you will find at the grocery store. They produce a more reddish color of meat that is full of flavour.
We have weaner pigs available in the spring for you to take home and raise for your family.
For those who prefer we have a limited number of butcher pigs available in the fall. For the butcher hogs, we will drop them off at the butcher for you and you can have it custom butchered to your specifications. This ensures that you get your animal butchered exactly the way that you want it. We will get the hanging weight from the butcher and charge based on that hanging weight for the pig. Then the butcher will call you when your pig is ready to pick up and you will pay for your custom butcher.
People tend to be surprised at the price of a farm raised hog. Heritage hogs are traditional breeds that have been raised over generations for their unique flavors, hardiness, and natural foraging abilities, while commercial hogs are typically bred for rapid growth and uniformity. Heritage breeds often lead more natural lives, resulting in pork that’s richly marbled and full of flavor. When you buy a heritage hog directly from our farm, you’re not only supporting sustainable farming practices and animal welfare, but also enjoying meat that’s healthier, more flavorful, and raised with care. Choosing heritage pork is a way to experience a taste that’s been preserved over centuries and to support local agriculture.
Broiler Chickens
We raise primarily Cornish Cross chickens for meat. While these chickens are the same breed as the chickens from the store you will find they are distinctly different when you get them home.
Our chickens are raised in a climate controlled brooder for the first few weeks of their life. This is because they are incredibly sensitive to cold or any kind of draft. So we keep them in what is called a brooder. They have clean bedding, 24 hour access to food and water, and most importantly heat. The broiler chicks need to be kept at about 32 degrees Celcius when they are first hatched and that needs to be very slowly lowered as they start to get their feathers.
Once they are feathered they are moved outside. Over the years we have tried many different ways of raising Broiler chickens to ensure that they are safe, well cared for and that they can still do the normal chicken behaviors like scratching and dust bathing. At this point we have found that what is called a chicken tractor is the best way to ensure that the chickens can be outside on pastures, grass and in the sun but we have reduced the risk from coyotes, bears, hawks, eagles and many other predators. We also have many chicken tractors to ensure that chickens of a similar size are all grouped together. That way smaller chickens don’t get picked on and bullied out of the food or water.
Turkeys
We have raised Turkeys on our farm for almost as long as we have raised meat chickens. They can be quite sensitive especially when they are young so they take great care to ensure that they thrive. They are very similar to the meat chickens in that we raise them in a temperature controlled environment when they are young and protect them from any drafts. They love tropical temperature and a good drink right in front of them at all times. Sometimes I wish that I could just pull up a chair and join them when the weather is so cold that your nose freezes shut when you sniff.
When they are all feathered out and a little more hardy they are also moved outside to chicken tractors. This is the best way to keep them safe but also let them have access to outside.
Currently we have the regular White Turkeys available, but we are raising wild turkeys, which if you have never tried, you should. They are much different than the white turkeys in that their breast meat is more like the dark meat on a white turkey. We will have information about ordering them for Christmas a little later in the year after we put together our breeding groups for next season.
Stay tuned for updates soon on different turkeys that will be available. If you would like to pre-order white turkeys for this coming Thanksgiving and Christmas you can do that on the order form found at the link below.
Layer Chickens
We have a wide variety of Layer breed chickens that are currently all housed together as a mixed breed flock.
We have a mix of blue, light brown, dark brown and a variety of green layers. The parent flock is made up of Amerecaunas, Copper Marans, Crested Legbars, Easter Eggers, Cochins, and Olive Eggers. I once heard someone refer to the eggs as a rainbow hippy mix and I loved that.
They are also raised in a brooder to protect them as they grow. Once they are big enough they are moved to the main coop where they are free ranging with the rest of the flock. Currently our layer flock is right next to our livestock guardian dogs so that they are well protected from predators.
We have eating eggs, hatching eggs, chicks, poults and older layers available. Just shoot us a message on what you are interested in and we can let you know what we currently have.
