CLOSED FOR 2023
Due to an outbreak of HPAI, all of Hearth & Haven’s
birds were culled by state and federal officials on
12/29/2022 - including all the birds you see below.
How can you help?
How can you help?
About the Animals
Ducks are the most numerous animals on our farm, but they're not the only critters we share the land with!
Our Founding Feathers
The Founding Feathers are our first ducks, the three birds who started it all. These gals inspired us to take the plunge into full-time farming.
Ichi, Dos, and Trois are Cayuga ducks, a rare breed developed in New York in the early 1800s. All three birds are still with the flock today!
The main flock
Our flock of laying hens is a mix of breeds, mainly derived from rare heritage varieties. They're beautiful birds and well worth preserving, and we're proud to help carry on this tradition. Best of all, heritage breeds are especially well suited to free-range environments like ours, where they can forage freely.
Why free-range? It's certainly more work than keeping birds in a run, but the girls are just happier when they have room to roam, can forage for tasty snacks in the grass, and generally get to act like ducks.
While they get plenty of tasty, organic duck feed, a varied diet with lots of wild foods helps the ducks get everything they need to lay top-quality eggs.
And all that extra nutrition ends up in the egg, so your breakfast is more than just tasty - it’s also packed with more vitamin A, vitamin E, and omega-3 fatty acids than any egg from a “conventional” operation.
Why heritage breeds? Their genetic diversity is worth preserving, and these birds are much better suited to the life of freedom on pasture than some modern breeds.
The flock in their pasture
ducks enjoying their field in winter
The cast of characters
Having a farm seems to spawn so many stories, and attract so many characters! Here are a few of the critters who call Hearth & Haven Farm home.
Johnny, the first farm dog
the farm dogs
What's a farm without a good dog?
Shortly after moving to Hearth and Haven, we adopted 12-year-old shepherd-mix Johnny, the Best Dog Ever.
Johnny immediately took to the farm, the cats, and the ducks. He proved to be an amazing duck guardian, and was utterly trustworthy with them from day one.
His time with us was far too short, as after a year and a half he succumbed to liver cancer. But we’re so grateful for the time we did have. If you visit the farm, keep an eye out for Johnny’s memorial statue near the duck field.
The current team
Farm dog Penny
A few months after Johnny’s passing, we met another senior shepherd-mix while picking up our foster cats from the shelter…and almost before we knew it, Penny joined the farm!
Sweet and shy, Penny seemed to feel at home on the farm right away. It’s a big change for a dog found as a stray near the CA/Mexico border!
Penny’s proving to be great at her job, especially chasing bunnies out of the veggie garden.
She’s been through a lot in her life, and we’re honored to have her join us in her golden years!
Guard dog Ayla
As the flock grew, we realized that there was more work than even Penny could tackle. We needed a big dog with the presence to keep the birds safe from all predators. It was time to add a Livestock Guardian Dog - so Ayla joined the team!
Ayla is an Anatolian Shepherd, an ancient breed developed in Turkey almost 6,000 years ago.
These specialized dogs are independent, intelligent, and determined to protect their charges. While they will absolutely stand their ground against threats to their home and pack, their main job is simply to be big and intimidating so predators move on.
Ayla and Penny share a smooch!
With Ayla keeping a close eye on things, the ducks can forage safely and the native predators like coyotes and bobcats can go about their business without any harm.
In 2022, Ayla is just a puppy learning her new job. As she grows, she’ll take on more and more of the lead guard role on the farm.
She may be big, but she’s also very friendly and loves people. If you’d like to meet Ayla during your visit, she’d be very happy to lick your face!
The guard geese
Our resident bald eagle kept looking for a duck dinner, and it was making us awfully nervous. What could we do to keep the ducks safe in the field while we were away?
After a lot of research, the answer seemed clear: we needed a goose!
It took a while to find just the right bird, but we finally located an American Buff goose who was raised with ducks.
Annabelle (we thought he was female, and the name stuck even after we learned he was a gander) absolutely adores the ducks, and does an excellent job watching out for aerial predators.
He’s gotten especially attached to Bertha, a Blue Swedish hen, and the two birds are always together.
In fact, the pair successfully raised two batches of ducklings together in 2020, and one batch in 2021! Annabelle adores his ducklings and spends his days carefully watching over them.
As we expand our flock, each field of ducks gets their own guard goose.
We now have Lady Georgette Truscott, an Embden goose with pure-white feathers and sharp blue eyes, and her children Sunny and Honk Solo.
George and Sunny announce every visitor to the farm (whether car or crow) with a duet of honking.
In 2022, we’ll have goose eggs available for eating. Keep an eye on the farm’s web store!
the foster cats
Top to bottom: Boo, Tipsy, and Udon, all of whom were adopted into loving homes.
We foster cats and kittens from a local shelter, using the barn office as the foster room. These little supervisors work hard to keep us on our toes!
The office is an ideal space - large, secure, quiet, and separate from all other animals. Just the right place for kittens to grow or for cats to recover from a kitty cold.
Yes, it’s definitely hard to give them up sometimes - but there are always more adorable kitties who need a little TLC.
If you’re able to visit the farm, please ask about meeting our current fosters! Meeting new people helps them with socialization, and that helps them get adopted faster.
One of our tiniest residents!
Corwin, a senior flame-point Siamese mix, enjoys snuggling while he gets over a kitty cold
The Wildlife
From Steller's jays and Douglas' squirrels to pileated woodpeckers and black-tailed deer, Hearth and Haven is home to a wide range of species.
Approximately 2 acres (30%) of our tiny farm is preserved as wild woodland to ensure these amazing creatures always have their space.
Several species are happy to share even the cultivated areas with us. Chickadees nest in birdhouses in the herb garden, deer regularly walk the fields, and a squirrel named Douglas nests in our wood shed.
We believe that running a mixed farm (one with both produce and animals) can make a positive impact on the environment and the wildlife around us in a way hyper-specialized farms cannot.
Photo by Larry Raisch
Farms that focus on just animals often end up with waste they cannot process, while veggie-only productions need a constant supply of fertilizer from off-farm.
By raising both plants and animals, we can integrate systems and recycle what would otherwise be thrown out: extra produce is fed to the animals, and the animals in turn fertilize the crops. This keeps the land productive and keeps manure from piling up, so the land stays healthy - for us and for our wild neighbors!