05/07/2026
All of my life, I have loved animals. In 2007, I bought my first goat and that began my 19 year long journey with raising and breeding goats. I started with Pygmies just for fun. The more I learned about goats and the tricks to successfully raising them, the more I expanded my herd. Over the years, I raised several breeds of mini goats, dairy goats, and meat goats. Each breed has its pros and cons, but I loved learning about every one of them. I enjoyed helping many people discover the joys and benefits of goats as pets as well as for their farm uses such as milk and meat.
In 2011, we added our first chickens to our farm. Like most people, my kids and I discovered the many breeds of chickens - the colorful egg layers, the big, fluffy breeds, tiny bantam breeds, some goofy-looking ornamental breeds, and some breeds that are incredibly high egg-producers.
In 2019, after a back injury forced me to sell off all but a handful of my goats, I decided to turn my focus more to the chickens and decided that I wanted to start a small hatchery. I knew I needed to choose the breeds I raised for a purpose and stick to it. I selectively chose standard-sized breeds that are rated as “good” to “excellent” egg layers that are suitable for any urban backyard flock or for larger operational farming purposes.
For the past 6 years, my little hatchery has grown and, over time, I have added more breeds and/or color varieties of several breeds. One of my main goals was to encourage more people to get into chickens to help supplement their families’ diets with farm fresh eggs from their own hens.
One of the things I have loved the most about doing this is watching people - adults and children alike - get excited about participating in agriculture and reconnecting with where their food comes from. Whether that has included dairy goats for milk, big meat goats for their dinner tables, or chickens and ducks for eggs and/or meat purposes, it’s always made me happy to see the animals I have worked so hard to raise make people’s faces light up over their new babies when they come to pick them up or, later on, seeing the pictures they’ve sent to me to share their excitement over their first baby goats being born or the first eggs their new hens have laid.
Every year brings its own new trials and triumphs and some years are better than others. Some years have gone smoothly while other years have taught hard lessons or shown me where our farm plans needed to flex one way or another. It’s been a lot of fun for me to offer new options to the people in my local community as well as to people who have traveled much longer distances to acquire the various species and breeds that I have to offer.
This year has been a harder year than most and “did not go as planned” pretty much sums it up, lol!
I have thought about many ways to diversify this farm over the past few years, but this is the year that some of those plans and changes are starting to be implemented.
With more people than ever incubating their own chicks at home and the spring chick season giving way to school graduations, summer vacations, and wedding season, I will be cutting back on how many chicks I hatch each week. I will still be hatching some chicks nearly every week, but I will also be turning my focus more towards my Pekin ducks. I chose to raise Pekins not just for their classic, solid white appearance, but also for their high quality meat production.
Whether you want ducks to grace your pond, help control weeds and pests (particularly flies and mosquitoes!) or to help fill your freezer with meat, Pekins are an excellent choice! I will have plenty of sexed baby ducklings, juveniles, and a limited number of yearling Pekins available. I will also be raising out some of them to be processed and sold directly from our farm this summer. Pekins have dark, mild-flavored, and very tender meat. (My favorite recipe is my daughter’s baked duck. Just thinking about it makes me hungry, lol!)
I truly appreciate everyone that has purchased goats, LGDs (livestock guardian dogs), eggs, chicks, ducks, and geese from me over the years. Without the support of all the wonderful buyers, this farm would not have made it this far! Your support has allowed me to do what I love doing and will enable me to continue moving forward with my next farm ventures as I diversify what this farm and my little hatchery has to offer.
I have a few other plans I’ve been working on and, if all goes well, I will have some exciting new options to add to what this farm produces either later this year or next spring!
My flocks are disease-tested twice a year and the last test for my NPIP certification in March showed my flocks are tested clean, as expected 😉
NPIP #63-1192
🌺🌺 THANK YOU 🌺🌺
🌺🌺 FOR SUPPORTING OUR FARM!! 🌺🌺
