We couldn’t decide a single breed to specialize in – there are SO many great chickens out there! We chose to raise a few heritage breeds known to be docile, cold-hardy, and good foragers; and a couple modern designer breeds solely for colorful eggs to fill our rainbow basket. Our girls lay a whole rainbow from blue to dark chocolate brown! We often have hatching eggs, chicks, pullets, cockerels, hens, and roosters available from non-hatchery lines.
Unlike Easter Eggers that hatcheries often sell as Ameraucanas, these are the real deal. We love their fluffy cheeks, pea combs, and sky blue (sometimes minty) eggs!
A landrace chicken originating in Sweden, the Svart Hona shares the fibromelanistic trait of its famous ancestor, the Ayam Cemani – they are almost completely black, inside and out. Also called the Swedish Black Hen, Svarts are larger, more cold-hardy, and far more rare than Ayam Cemani. Their eggs are only small-med, but they lay extremely well and have excellent fertility.
Buckeyes are the only APA-recognized chicken breed created by a woman! They quickly stole our hearts – they are sweet and curious, always underfoot, and great bug hunters. They’re also cold-hardy with tiny pea combs. Of all our chickens, these are our absolute favorite and we hope to always have this breed in our coop. Even in the fear stage as chicks, these guys are the first to bum rush us the minute we open the brooder!
Originating in Canada, Chanteclers are THE chickens for northern climates – they’re cushion-combed and have tight feathering for severe winter weather, are sweet as can be, love to free range, lay a ton of large brown eggs, and roosters grow to about 9lbs for those who have a freezer camp.
We were very excited to find our Welsummers – they come from an autosexing line and we are working to strengthen that feature. A Dutch breed, they are friendly and great foragers. They lay gorgeous speckled dark brown eggs – sometimes darker than our Marans did! We breed more for SOP than egg color with this line because we want to keep our beloved autosexing trait. It’s so convenient!
We love rainbow egg baskets and have been experimenting with different shades of green! All green layers are hybrids originally made by combining a chicken breed that lays blue eggs with one that lays white, cream, or brown. Their appearances vary wildly, depending which breeds they’re made up of. We have different varieties available at different times, but will almost always have F1 Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers for sale. We’ll add pages for them as we work to establish a line!
We walked out the side door the other day and heard some suspicious heavy breathing…
Turns out, it was this sweet girl tucked into our irises - protecting a secret nest like her life depends on it!
Small twist: we don’t own ducks! 😅
She’s one of our neighbors’, and we absolutely adore how their flock has blended with our pet chickens. Their birds have become part of the daily rhythm here - hanging with ours, joining in for snacks, and now… hatching eggs 😅
It’s like one big, happy family, and honestly? We’re here for it. 🥚🦆💜
And for any concerned, biosecurity is still a thing! Everyone has been health tested, and this group is also over an acre away from our purebred pens.
#PasturePals #BroodyDuck #HatchingEggs #ChickensOfInstagram (and ducks!)
Jul 29
A pair of adorable Mini Nubian doelings just happened to show up tonight 👀
Please welcome Soaring Heart’s Lavender Kiss and Soaring Heart’s J Onyx to the herd! 💙
And giant thanks to SeaBow Livestock for bringing them here from WA so quickly!
#MiniNubianMagic #JKHerdItAll #JKShrunkTheKids #WisconsinGoats #PasturePals #UdderlyUnexpected
Jul 26
We’re excited to share that our farm is renewed and certified NPIP & AI Clean for another year! It took a little longer than usual to confirm our renewal because USPS lost our updated certificate in the mail 🙃
Being part of NPIP means:
✅ Our poultry are annually tested and certified free of Salmonella Pullorum-Typhoid
✅ We are Avian Influenza Clean under USDA guidelines
✅ We adhere to biosecurity protocols and are prepared for inspection at any time to prove it
✅ We can LEGALLY ship to most US states - some still require individual permits that we obtain as needed
Whether you`re adding layers, breeders, or hatching eggs to your own flock - our birds are backed by clean records and certified proof of responsible practices.
🪺 Our birds have downsized dramatically and have been on the back burner during our biggest goat population boom to date, but we`re still carrying on with our Buckeyes, Partridge Chanteclers, Buff Chanteclers, Svart Honas, a pair of Welsummers, and a couple Self-Blue/Black Ameraucanas that we couldn`t part with. And of course the Pilgrim Geese!
#HerditAll #ChickensOfInstagram #PasturePals #NPIPCertified #AIclean #HealthyFlock #ColdHardyChickens #HeritageBreeds #RareBreedChickens #ShowChickens
Jul 26
Absolutely loving our custom 3D printed farm signs and tags from 6Bee 3D! 🐐💜
Our last ones have held up really well through all the chewing and scratching our goats put them through 😅
#FarmStyle #GoatGear #Custom3DPrints #Biosecurity
Jul 25
Sunshine-colored coats, rich milk, and gentle personalities - our Guernsey girls bring the glow every day ☀️🐐
We’ve only got one Guernsey-type doe currently in milk to highlight, but we’re also (maybe) bringing in one of our best Oberhasli for a new breed-up line this fall!
✨ Tulla – our very first (50% Ober) Guernsey-type milker, she is deep-bodied with a nice rump and promising FF udder. She’s producing around 7lbs of milk per day, which we think is awesome, especially considering her mid-lactation relocation! Setup pic courtesy of Jon Kain at Hillaire Farm.
💫 Diana – a true superhero (IYKYK), Diana of the Amazon is our pick for an Oberhasli-cross breedup this year, if our planned AI doesn’t work out. She’s long, level, and dairy, and has one of our most tightly attached udders while still producing boatloads of milk - on track to produce close to 2500lb is this year (again, if we can find more alfalfa with this wonky weather).
Check out our breeding plans and let us know if you’d like to hop onto our free waitlist!
#GoldenGoats #GuernseyGoats #WisconsinGoats #HerditAll #PasturePals #GoatMilkMagic
Jul 23
We for sure need to work on better photos one dayyyy when we’re not swamped, but these does are part of the backbone to our Oberhasli program - we also plan to use one Ober per year to give Guernsey genetics a much-needed boost 🤩
✨ Riesling – To us, she’s the total package! Long, level, and elegant with the kind of mammary that makes milking fun. One of our top producers, she has the potential to reach over 2500lbs of milk this year as a 2F (if the weather decides to cooperate and stops ruining our alfalfa guy’s cuttings) - and as a bonus, she effortlessly milks down to nothing! Her milk is ideal for the cheese lovers out there, with A/A alpha-s1 casein. She also gave us our first E in an LA category (rear legs)!
🌟 Lasty – WOWed us with a linear score of VVVG 85 as an FF at 1 month fresh, showcasing impressive depth and a confident stance. She has a wide, level rump that supports a socked-on mammary!
🎯 Kirlia – She’s developing from a kinda derpy kid to a refined & level doe. Her udder is soft, shapely, and productive - making her one of our most balanced milkers this season. As an FF, she’s averaging 9lbs of milk per day and 4.5% butterfat!
Every day, we’re more in love with these gorgeous milking machines! Check out our breeding plans so far, and feel free to reach out about our free waitlist
#OberhasliGoats #WisconsinGoats #HerditAll #UdderlyAwesome #goatmilkmagic
Jul 23
Our Mini Nubian ladies aren’t just adorable - they’re powerhouses in the milk parlor! Here are a few standouts this year:
✅ Dolly: #1 on MDGA’s 2024 TopTen in Butterfat % - she’s averaging 5.8% again this year and producing close to 8lbs of milk per day as a 2nd freshener
✅ Raindrop: Averaging 6.0% butterfat with a strong chance of breaking 2000lbs of milk this year - as a first freshener
✅ Pickles: Another first freshener with 7.1% butterfat & 7.1lbs of milk on our May test - whaaat?!
We’re so proud of their performance and even more excited about their kids!
Check out our breeding plans so far, and feel free to reach out about our free waitlist 🤩
#MilkWithMuscle #MiniNubians #GoatGirlsClub #CreamOfTheCrop
Jul 23
**Testosterone tsunami incoming 🌊💥 The bros are all PUMPED and chasing those alpha-tier gains 💪💪 Just peep those dairy wrinkles and absolutely yoked neck on our boy, Foggy Fork Farm Hot Shot *S/*B 😤💦 Dude`s built like a milk-powered tank!
Also, either he or his son is still seeking new digs 😅
#SwoleMate #DairyDudeDeluxe #WrinklesOfGlory #rut #breedingseason #mininubian
Jul 22
Oh, Tulla! We are NOT having December kids 😅
#goats #rut #breedingseason #dairygoats #guernseygoats #oberhasligoats #mininubian #farmlife #loveisintheair
Jul 21
Over the past few days, we’ve been reminded how important it is to have a phone in today’s world - Jess’ was busted with the dreaded WSoD and we couldn’t access anything that needs MFA 🙃
We set up a new phone just in time to record the swarm of bees that will hooopefully decide to move into our abandoned hives!
It even picks up the goat kids yelling and the bucks pfffting in the background - so peaceful 😅
#bees #apiary #swarm #swarmtrap #beeswarm #honeybees #beekeeping
Jul 15
Ripping off the bandaid and letting another breed go! They’re looking kinda ratty right now in this heat, but they clean up decently 😅
We’ve got two breeding groups of exhibition-quality Self-Blue (aka Lavender)/ Black Split Ameraucanas, as well as a few pet-quality black hens and a trio of Self-Blue chicks running around. The main faults we’ve been working out are high tail angles and gold or silver leakage here and there.
We’ve bred them for a few years now, but our line originated from Paul Smith and Gypsy Hen.
All are under 2 years old, most are under 1.
Their eggs range from pale sky blue to a super saturated almost grayish greenish blue. All are within the ABC and AA parameters.
NPIP/AI Clean as soon as DATCP processes our renewal - I can show our last cert (expired June 30) and June lab results in the meantime.
8 black hens, 4 self-blue hens, 1 black rooster, 1 self-blue rooster, 3 self-blue chicks.
The ultimate dream would be for another exhibition breeder to take the whole group at this heavily lowered rate and keep improving them.
2️⃣✋🧿 for the whole group - super good deal!
#downsizing #chickens #rarebreedchickens #exhibitionpoultry #heritagebreeds #ameraucana #ameraucanachickens #selfblueameraucana #lavenderameraucana #blackameraucana
Jul 10
Here’s a summer milking hack that we’ve mentioned a few times - adding sanitized stainless whiskey balls or lunchbox ice packs to the pail! They keep milk a little cooler while it’s 100000 degrees outside 🥵
Might be worth checking on Prime now that they’ve got deals running!
#goats #dairygoats #milking #goatmilk #lifehack #farmlife
Jul 8
Today, we took a break from the critters so Ken could see the House on the Rock for the first time!
… and then picked up some Partridge Chantecler eggs for a slight outcross with ours 🤞
#breaktime #midwest #houseontherock #hatchingeggs #rarebreedchickens #heritagepoultry #partridgechantecler
Jul 7
Dexalicious says he has noooo idea how our nice wool blanket made it from the laundry room into his den outside. Must’ve been some other dog 🤔
#dog #troublemaker #farmdog #shepherdmix #huskymix #colliemix #supermutt
Jul 1
We thought the crazy amounts of rain lately had rendered the eggs under our broody geese unviable, but we thought wrong! Sweet Pea has hatched two goslings so far today - one male (available) and one female (not available).
Sweet Pea is an awesome broody mama but doesn’t quite fit Pilgrim color requirements, so she’s moving to a new home soon.
#geese #babygeese #domesticgeese #pilgrimgeese #farmlife
Jun 30
We had to pull our pasture milkweed when we got the goats, but we always try to keep some around in other areas of our property. It looks like our local Monarchs were able to find the big one in our backyard 🧡
#butterfly #saveourpollinators #milkweed #nativeplant
Jun 30
We had our first Linear Appraisal yesterday, and it was super informative! We haven`t taken decent pics of the girls after we clipped them because it`s been raining pretty much 24/7 for the past two weeks, but we`ll hopefully get a few soon - in the meantime, here`s Kirlia with some yearlings trying to take down our last semi-healthy ash tree😅
It`s the first time we`ve brought our girls anywhere and showed us that we’re on the right track - most of our preferences were spot-on with our does’ scores. They`re all still young and developing, and we can`t wait to see how they grow over the next couple years! We’re so honored to be working with these ladies as our starting point & hope to make their aaamazing breeders proud as we integrate them into our own lines 💜
Oberhasli:
Ober-Boerd Diana of the Amazon (3 yr old 2F) GVVG 85
Autumn Acres RT Riesling *M (3 yr old 2F) GVVG 84
Windscape JB Last Call (2 yr old FF at 1 month fresh) VVVG 85
Ober-Boerd Kirlia (2 yr old FF at 2 months fresh) VVGG 84
Heaven’s Hollow Sharp (2 yr old FF at 2 months fresh) GAAA 80
Guernsey-Type Experimental:
Hillaire Farm Tipperary Tulla (2 yr old FF at 3 months fresh) GGVG 82
#goats #dairygoats #linearappraisal #performanceherd #adga #oberhasligoats #guernseygoats
Jun 26
Sheila says that she’s over this hot, muggy summer business and is ready for winter to come back 🥵
#hot #toohot #goats #hairgoat #guernseygoats #rarebreeds
Jun 22
As promised, here’s the bane of nearly every goat breeder’s existence: a coccidia oocyst!
Contrary to popular belief, coccidia ≠ cocci - coccidia are protozoan parasites and cocci are spherical-shaped bacteria, like strep or staph.
Coccidia are scary because they can easily overwhelm and destroy the intestinal linings of their hosts, causing coccidiosis. Most adults eventually develop immunity, but kids can be hit super hard, and many are permanently stunted - if they survive.
The guy this sample came from is an adult, but his count is borderline & we’re keeping a close eye on him because we’re afraid he might have cancer, so we’ll be treating him!
#goats #parasites #parasiteprevention #parasitemanagement #coccidia #coccidiosis #fecalfloat #farmlife #herdhealth #goathealth
Jun 21
RIP our best bud, the chillest rooster ever!
He never caused any trouble and loved to just sit in his chair overlooking our orchard, while the growouts scratched around him.
This will hurt our already slow Partridge Chantecler order fulfillment a bit, but we’ve got a few younger guys who can eventually step in!
#chickens #rarebreedchickens #heritagebreeds #rarebreedpoultry #chanteclerchickens #partridgechantecler #partridgechanteclerchickens
Jun 20