Integrated and diversified livestock
At WFR, we love our animals and just like us, they all work and play hard! Our mainstay rule (aside from an wonderful, clean, loving life with freedom) is that each animal here has a purpose. As so, we’ve slowly grown and integrated a livestock family that works together in harmony while also having their needs met both individually and as a species. Meaning, our sheep, goats, chickens, horses and cattle all know how to be together but also know how to stay within their roles as a species and also get individual attention. We take pride in their care, work hard to keep our pastures green, diverse and rotationally grazed. We feed all NON-GMO and/or organic, allow access to pastures 24/7 and use all natural health practices as much as possible. Honeybees! We do have honey hives that are managed by Andrew Lantz of Bell Beaker, LLC who sells boutique organic honey. Our blueberry add a delicious flavor and the bees are wonderful for our blueberries! That’s Mother Nature at her best which is our goal of integration!
We hope you’ll come visit our barn family during blueberry season and go home with the best all natural blueberries you’ll ever put in your mouth!
- Our chickens and ducks who are led by Shelly (our head hen) and Quack (our head duck) have a nice coop, nesting boxes with curtains a little chic decor and privacy. They roam freely during the day to peck, scratch and explore; during the night they are in our coop with access to a large protected outdoor area. All of our weeds, dead flowers and leftover veggies are used as yummy treat for them each day! We also feed them NON-GMO crumbles and we use diatomaceous earth to keep them healthy, naturally! Our chickens and ducks provide us beautiful eggs of brown, white, speckles and blue. They also are awesome bug eaters!
- Our cattle are gorgeous Longhorn ladies, Merilla and Marla. We are constantly in awe of them, they are quite smart and will find a hole in fence if there is one! These pretty girls are on lots of grass and provide calves that we raise for our grassfed beef. They are spunky, pretty and LOVE their daily treat of some NON-GMO grain to keep them liking me :). We feed them just enough to have a way to entice them and the rest is grass, leaves and whatever else they want to enjoy in the pasture!
Here she is, all growed up…..well mostly! Our sweet Fern, she holds this ranch together with her courage, loyalty, instinct and makes friends with everyone and thing she meets! She protects our livestock all night and naps diligently during the day, but will never miss a chance to say hello! Without her, we would be lost and even when she chews up all our outdoor pillows, tracks mud all through the house or drags amazon packages down to the barn with pride….. we can never seem to get upset with her 😂❤️
- Our horses Abaco, Ziggy, Daisy and Jack are out 24/7 and often are found free grazing around the barn during the day. This way, they can forage in their paddocks at night and have access to different grasses during the day. Along with free choice minerals and salt, they get a small amount of grain each day and lots of love. Our horses handle our EAL sessions, PATH certified lessons, holistic/natural horsemanship lessons, mow our grass and keep my soul happy!
- Our sheep, ohhh our sheep! Gloria, our ewe in charge, watches our flock and does a wonderful job. Our sheep free graze during the day and spend the nights in their paddock for safety and their cute sheep shack. This rotation also allows us to keep their paddock greener and grassier for them! We are hoping to grow our flock slowly over the years. Our sheep are primarily for weed control in our all natural blueberry farm. They enjoy the lush, green, low growing weeds but we do see them eating hardier, higher up greens from time to time! During and for 8 weeks before blueberry season, they are kept out of the blueberry farm to enjoy pastures and vines! Our sheep also enjoy handfuls of NON-GMO grain to keep them interested in us...Gloria and friends love to nibble out of our hands!
- Fern and Bean....who complete our livestock and barn family. Fern is our Great Pyrenees girl who (when big enough) will watch over everyone. She is an amazing dog and its been fascinating to watch her naturally come into her role as protector. We’ve never had full bred dogs, always rescued mixes (and have 2 family mixed dogs); she is going to be a fantastic livestock guardian dog and a family favorite for years to come. Her bestie, Bean, is our barn kitty. They are the same age and are right out of a storybook together. Bean is our tiny tabby and is sweet, curious and quick! She’s always climbing, exploring, hiding and loves to be snuggled. These two spend their days hanging around the barn, helping us with barn chores and playing with the sheep, goats, chickens and ducks.