Livestock

Our heritage breed chickens nest naturally and are raised by their own mothers.  They are vaccine free and they don’t have their beaks clipped or cauterized (which is a common commercial practice with chicken barn production).  River Valley Ranch chickens are not raised in cages or runs/pens.  They get to form their own social groups, promoting healthy conditions for robust feathering and combs.

The hens and roosters roam free in the vineyard and farm pastures, allowing them to self-select a variety of grains, grasses, clover, and to search out insects, bugs and worms to scratch up.  They are kept safe from predators under the watchful eye of our resident English Shepherds, Lassa, Max and Maya.

All supplemental chicken grain (hen scratch) is Certified Organic.

Heritage Cows

Highlands are a heritage breed of dual purpose cattle and were traditionally kept in small numbers throughout the British Isles.  The beef is sweet tasting, succulent and, well marbled. We take great care in raising our cattle allowing them to be reared outside, year-round in our wild herb and meadow environment.

Our cattle’s robust immune systems mean that they do not need chemical dewormers, antibiotics or grain to fatten them.  Avoiding feedlot style grain feeding means the cow’s gut micro biome and rumen stays healthy and produces a healthier meat.  Living a stress free life on grass, meadow plants and herbs, they produce a tasty, tender carcass.  With our on-farm slaughter license we ensure they are dispatched in a stress-free manner at home in their own environment.  We believe the exceptional care we take in rearing and handling our animals provides you with the healthiest meat possible, rich in omega 3s and CLAs, (conjugated linoleic acid).  See more of them on the Highland Fold page on this website.

Our start in goats was with these sweet little goat girls which have French Alpine, Nubian and La Mancha lineages.  The goats belong to our closed circle farming practice where they provide sustenance for us and our guests and also provide raw goat milk to produce our vineyard/grape vine spray.  Raw milk contains wonderful antiseptic properties and enzymes that act as fungal control and give foliar nutrition to the plant.  We do the same for our pasture and hayfields with no petrochemical fertilizers or inputs added to our land.