About Our Farm Animals

Animal Adoption

We work with our local Humane Society to help with the animals they cannot house. The animals we rescue are farm animals (pigs, horses, sheep, chickens, etc. and at times, some exotics).

Most Humane Societies are equipped to handle companion animals only... that's where we come in. From time to time, we foster farm animals until they can be adopted by others. Many of these animals will be destroyed if they cannot go to a foster farm like ours or adopted into a family like yours.

We did foster care for a pot-bellied pig in December with the intention of adopting him out. After a week, we realized he was meant to be on our farm. This is an exception.

If you believe you can provide a loving home for some of these 'unwanted' animals and would like a chance to adopt an animal that needs a loving home, please contact us. Recently, we have been asked if we would be willing to foster horses. At this time, we do not have individuals interested in adopting horses, so we turned the horse foster care request down. If you are interested in fostering or adopting a horse, please contact us. This goes for other large animals as well. It is not uncommon for us to be contacted for the fostering of Emus and/or Ostriches.

Our Critters

Chickens

Our 2007 & 2008 laying chickens were raised free range. I can't say they were organically raised, as we used chicken feed from the local farmer's elevator to supplement their diet. I can say they were free range, meaning, they had a chicken coop or barn to be in at night and had full range of the farm site, during the day. They did a great job on bug control.

Our chickens gave us the best tasting eggs we've had in a long time. There is much to be said about farm fresh eggs. They are said to be healthier for you. You can tell a good farm egg by its yoke color. It should be a dark golden yellow almost orange color. These eggs are rich in Omega 3 fats and are extremely tasty.

click here to enlarge →

For 2008, our farm fresh eggs are be for sale NOW.. as well as our processed broiler chickens (fryers and roasters). Please check our sale page for more info or to see when they are available during the year.

Rabbits

We have both meat rabbits and State Fair quality, show rabbits. We always seem to have little crossbred rascals for sale. We also have a purebred black mini lop buck for sale.

To learn more, please check out our daughter Madison's website: House Of Hares.

Cattle

On April 27th, 2008, we welcomed our first cow/calf pair of Scottish Highlanders to the farm. Unfortunately, shortly after bringing them home, the little calf died from a twisted intestine.

We're expecting another from friends, as these two cows will be the first cattle that have been on the farm in nearly 15 years. It's a huge milestone for the farm. Hopefully, when people see them in our pastures, it will bring some public awareness and interest to Scottish Highland Cattle.

Highlanders are known to "fatten" on pasture alone, eating much of the vegetation other cattle will not touch. Unlike most beef breeds, Highlander meat is well marbled and lean. Due to their long shaggy hair, these gentle beasts do not produce a layer of fat to insulate themselves from the elements, so there is less waist at butchering time. The beef we produce (if any), will be for our family only.

Goats

The goats we have, are raised primarily for meat at this time. We currently raise a small Boer cross herd. The local ethnic market is focused on the consumption of this meat for religious purposes or for celebration (i.e. goat roasts). Some of our friends from Texas say roast goat goes very well with Budweiser™.

This is not to say that our goats can not be milked. Goat milk of any kind is quite high in butterfat and makes for some wonderful, high quality cheeses.

Madison holding Booger, click the pic →

Llamas

Our llamas were purchased to guard our sheep/goats and help maintain the overgrown pasture. Llamas eat relatively low-grade hay (grass hay) or pasture; they eat very little (about 10% of horse). Best of all, they hate predators like large dogs or coyotes. To see more of Dolly and Gandhi, click here.

Madison getting to know the llamas →

Pot Bellied Pig

more pics here.

We adopted a little swine as a rescue from the local Humane Society on Dec 21, 2007. He's kinda funny once you get to know him. We named him Wilbert and he likes to mount our legs, large rubber balls and empty boxes. To read about our first day with him, read Dec 21, 2007 Blog.

In the summer of 2008, we welcomed Puga, a miniature pot belly pig to our farm.

Sheep

Sheep are new to us. We got our first Katahdin ram March 22, 2008. Cooper is just a sweetheart and a bottle baby we bought from Fox Lake Farms. We are hoping to grow this 'recovering' breed of hair sheep for meat.

Here's Cooper in the pet carrier when we brought him home →

We also have a few Shetland wethers named Sunny. On May 4, 2008, we added 3 more Shetland wethers (Buckwheat, Snowman & Black Jack) to our herd, thanks to some very nice ppl west of us. We learn so much from them.

Animals Of Interest To Us

At the present time, we are very much interested in pursuing heritage and/or rare breeds of animals that fit into a sustainable farm/homesteading application.

Like the llamas we have, we are looking for a few pigs and sheep that complement our farm setting.

We are at the present time, looking for Kunekune (pronounced koo-ney koo-ney) pigs as well as more Katahdin sheep. Kunekune pigs are extremely friendly, small and easily reach market weight on pasture alone. For us, the interest is for the vineyard and orchard. The Kunekune breed root very little and tend to leave vines and bushes alone.

The Katahdin sheep breed is another animal we're very interested in. Like the llama and the Kunekune, the Katahdin thrive on pasture. They are a hair-sheep, so there is no need to sheer... they winter well and are extremely parasite resistant.

We are so busy getting the farm in shape, that we are not interested in become breeders at this time, so registered stock is of little importance. We like what these animals can bring to the table and we want to help these types of animals to flourish. We also want to show others that just because your neighbor, your brother, your dad or your mentor raises certain types of animals, a certain way, doesn't mean you have to or that it is the best thing for your farm. We urge others to become familiar with the unfamiliar.

There is no free ride at Coyote Ridge. All the animals serve a purpose on the farm, whether they work on the farm, are a 4H animal, provide food, or have some other important role to play in the maintenance of our self-reliant homestead. Just because an animal CAN be processed for food, doesn't mean that is their purpose on our farm. Chickens are a perfect example... we keep many chicken until a ripe old age. Chickens love to pick and scratch. They eat plenty of bugs, keep weeds and grasses down... as well as keep the farm looking like a farm... not to mention the eggs and chicks they produce.

Please remember, when you are consider getting a pet or farm animal, don't get one because you THINK you might like having it around. Animals are a big responsibility and most need the love, care and attention of a small child. Be VERY certain you can take on another long term commitment.

If for some reason your children convinced you to get an animal and that they would take good care of the new addition, but now you/they cannot, fear not... we also do adoption and foster care for rabbits, poultry, farm animals and some exotics.

What Next?

In 2008, we are looking at increasing our pasture acreage so that we can continue growing our small herd of Boer goats. We are also hoping to buy a bred Scottish Highlander cow and a bred Oberhasli dairy goat from our friends at Fox Lake Farms.

Carol is planning on purchasing 2 sets of 70 broiler/meat chicken with a few heritage breeds for producing those delicious, free-range, Omega-3 packed, organic eggs. She has also been asked to grow at least another 25 birds for neighbors and friends. She would also like to add a heritage breed turkey and some ducks.

Of course Madison & Carol will be raising more meat & show rabbits. Last year at the Kandiyohi County Fair, the 4H show rabbits that they raised, placed in the top three positions in their class. Madison's Mini-Lop doe placed in the State Fair line-up.

Coyote Ridge Farms