Animals at Triple Creek Farms
Triple Creek Farms has Silver Fox rabbits, Nubian Goats, donkeys, ducks, turkeys, pigs and chickens on the farm. They are used for a variety of purposes including meat, dairy, eggs and companionship.
Nubian Herd
We run a small herd of purebred, ADGA registered Nubian goats. you can read more about the breed in general and the animals by clicking on the header above. In the spring we typically have kids for sale and we change the breeding stock in the herd every few years.
Silver Fox Rabbits
We breed and raise purebred registered Silver Fox rabbits. We have two breeding lines for genetic diversity. We buy and sell rabbits every year. We generally have most of the breed colors at any given time although we concentrate on blue and lilac coloration. Any kits that are not kept for breeding purposes are culled at 14-18 weeks. You can learn more about Silver Fox rabbits by clicking the header above.
Donkeys
We have two standard donkeys which were rescue animals. The jenny “Flower” was pregnant when it was rescued. It is unclear what kind of jack bread Flower, but “Maise” is a fair bit smaller than Flower.
Turkeys
We generally run a few turkeys during the spring and summer. I prefer the bronze broad breasted turkeys however the last time we bought turkeys we got the smaller bronze turkeys with the thought they would fertilize better. We wintered over a tom and a few hens in hope of hatching our own chicks, but the hatch rate was only so-so and it doesn’t seem economical to winter the turkeys over.
Ducks
We have tried a variety of ducks and the last time we purchased a flock we went with runner ducks with a nod going to higher egg production. As luck would have it they were all drakes with only a single hen. We have culled a few and there just isn’t much meat on a runner duck. Next year we will go back to standard varieties so any drakes will go in the smoker.
The lone steer
This year we are experimenting with raising a steer. An inexpensive Jersey steer was purchased from a local dairy farm. He is very friendly and has been dubbed “Brisket”. The intent is to raise the steer mostly grass and hay with only small grain feedings along with the rest of the four legged livestock so everyone gets along. He definitely loves apples and trying to chew on your clothes. Because he is being mostly grass fed I am anticipating that it will take about 18 months before he reaches the optimum weight for harvesting.