Our family raises a number of heritage and rare breed poultry for egg production and meat. We offer for sale hatching eggs (shipping & local pickup) and birds of various ages (local pickup only). Each breed has its own unique attributes, and one (or more) of them are sure to be a great fit for your needs!
Some of our favorite breeds
Silkie chickens: Heritage bantam breed, medicinal properties to meat, excellent mothering (each hen tends to go broody approximately every 20 eggs laid), large yolks compared to egg size, multiple roosters get along. Very friendly and excellent with children. Can free-range with LGD supervision!
Orpington chickens: Dual purpose, friendly, great foragers but typically stick relatively close to home. Lavender feather color is very popular for hatching eggs and chicks, light brown eggs. Some hens will brood chicks.
Bresse chickens: Table breed grows faster than dual purpose breeds (12-16 weeks to butcher date), very large tinted eggs, excellent at mowing grass in a pasture pen, excellent foragers. Occasionally broods chicks.
Marans chickens: Excellent foragers with the deepest orange yolks, less porous shells make eggs last longer, originally game birds (the roosters are relatively large). Roosters are susceptible to frostbite. Friendly, occasionally broods chicks.
Silverudd’s Blue and Cream Legbar chickens: Laying breeds both created by Martin Silverudd. Prolific green (Silverudd’s) or blue (Legbar) eggs. Less feed needed compared to dual purpose breeds. Cream Legbars are auto-sexing, meaning males and females are visibly different looking as soon as they hatch (good for selling female chicks to a local market that can’t keep roosters). Silverudd’s are skittish if not handled while young. Both are excellent foragers. They will not sit on eggs/brood chicks. Cream Legbar roosters are especially susceptible to frostbite.
Learn more about Silverudd’s and Cream Legbars.
Ameraucana chickens: Look for true Ameraucana from a breeder, not Easter Egger or “Americana” which is not a breed. Blue eggs, great for colder climates as roosters will not get frostbite on their combs. Great foragers, some hens tend to brood chicks.
Magpie ducks are friendly, active foragers who lay a very good number of large eggs. In our experience, they use a nesting box more than other duck breeds and lay eggs longer into the fall season than other breeds. Magpie ducks are listed as a threatened breed on the Livestock Conservancy website.
Blue Slate turkeys have sweet and curious personalities and beautiful feather colors that range from light to dark blue with and without dark flecks. Slate turkeys are on the watch list on the Livestock Conservancy website.
