The Animals
Pastured Berkshire Pork
Our breeding stock are Berkshire Sows, chosen for their high conversion rate of grass to weight. We experimented with pure Berkshire, Hereford Berkshire, Tamworth and Duroc cross. Our favourite breed combination turned out to be the Berkshire Hereford cross. This was because of the flavour and quality of the meat, the fat to meat ratio, and the length of the body, resulting in more bacon or pork belly.
Our pigs dine on ample scraps and grain and spend their days in pasture and wooded areas. We move them into the gardens whenever we need them to till up a plot, till the soil, or fertilize.
Nigerian Dwarf Goats
There are a number of reasons we decided on this breed. First of all, they are on the livestock conservancy list and preserving heritage breeds is a priority for our farm. Secondly, they are small and adorable! The small size makes it so much easier to handle them and transport them. They fit in our dog crate and we can lift them quite easily. Thirdly, their milk has a very high butterfat content. Average milking goats would be 3 to 3.5% butterfat and the Nigerian goat is 6.5%. This makes their milk excellent for cheese making and palatable for drinking.
Heritage Chickens
We believe "you are what you eat, eats”, and are committed to raising chickens that eat grass, bugs, seeds and vegetables. The Bielefelder breed is showing real promise and at this time we are developing our breeding flock in order to be able to raise them as our meat birds.